Hot List: Surprising ICD-10 challenges

Since ICD-10 implementation affects almost every department in a medical practice or hospital, it's fair to say that it's more than a medical coding problem. There are plenty of challenges to tackle across the organization.
In addition to learning new medical codes and buying technology, healthcare organizations will experience trials in the following five areas:

1. Project planning
ICD-10 implementation will require coordination of many moving parts and oversight in order to:
• Schedule meetings
• Create teams
• Recruit champions
• Plan education and training sessions
• Create impact assessments
• Communicate with vendors and consultants
2. Financial planning
Perhaps ICD-10 opponents are a bit too fixated on the estimated costs of making systems and equipment ICD-10-compatible. I'm not saying it's going to be cheap. But there's more to it:
• Revenue  -  Reimbursements can be affected by DRG shifts.
• Cash flow  -  The accounts receivable cycle can increase due to payer delays and a decrease in medical coding productivity.
• Operational cost  -  Are you going to hire more staff to cope with decreased productivity?
3. Productivity
The drop in Canadian medical coder productivity is almost legendary  -  40 percent. It's the bogeyman of ICD-10 implementation. But there is hope that healthcare organizations can boost productivity now by:
• Using computer assisted coding (CAC)
• Implementing electronic health records (EHRs)
• Hiring and training staff
• Enhancing the workplace
4. Communication
There are many constituencies who need to be informed about the ICD-10 transition. You need to gather information from various groups:
• Ensure executives know how the ICD-10 transition is working.
• Coordinate with healthcare payers, vendors and consultants.
• Collaborate with other project teams.
• Keep affected staff members informed about changes.
5. Morale
There aren't a lot of healthcare professionals who are thrilled to be tackling ICD-10 implementation:
• Physicians have reservations about documentation requirements.
• Some medical coders don't want to learn new diagnosis and procedure codes.
• IT staff are juggling other system upgrades.

These concerns don't mean ICD-10 implementation needs to be scrapped. These are hurdles that can be overcome with planning and effort, but you must begin with awareness to be successful.

Carl Natale is the editor of ICD10Watch.com.