Statement by CHIME Board of Trustees Chair Charles E. Christian, CHCIO, LCHIME, FCHIME, and CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO
It’s been a long road to get to this point, but today the nation’s healthcare system takes a major step forward in being able to capture more detailed data about patients and their conditions. ICD-10 has nearly five times more codes than were used in ICD-9. Building more robust medical records should ultimately result in more efficient and better quality care.
After years of implementing new IT systems, testing and training, hospital chief information officers are ready for the switch. Most hospitals and health systems have spent the last several months doing end-to-end testing with their payer partners and working to iron out any glitches. Additionally, they’ve spent countless hours training physicians and coders on the intricacies of ICD-10.
During the weeks and months ahead, CIOs will closely monitor how the transition is going and ensure that their organizations are positioned to take full advantage of the benefits of the new coding system.
About CHIME
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 1,700 CIO members and over 150 healthcare IT vendors and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and healthcare in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit CHIME website.