By Bonnie Cassidy
Twitter: @BonnieSCassidy
Twitter: @NuanceHealth
The ICD-10 transition deadline is six months away and HIM teams are working around the clock to ensure a smooth switch over. But how much do you know about the history of this new code set? Take a break from the preparation work for a few minutes and play ICD-10 Jeopardy!
While some are looking for another bill to derail the ICD-10 adoption, the majority of healthcare providers (hospitals and, yes, physicians) are frustrated with any suggestion of a delay, given all the time, energy, and resources that have been devoted to preparation over the last ten years. Health providers seized the opportunity to embrace technology, and improve performance under ICD-9 while they pulled together their strategies and planned all of the details to successfully implement ICD-10-CM and PCS, from driving quality improvement via physician engagement and education to implementing and fine-tuning clinically documentation improvement programs throughout the continuum of care and, of course, coder education.
But you know what they say about all work and no play, so as we buckle down in preparation for the ICD-10 transition, it is important to remember to leave some time for fun! And what better way to stimulate your senses then a little ICD-10 trivia. So test your wit and wisdom with your friends by playing a little ICD-10 Jeopardy!
Frustrations aside, the healthcare industry is in the midst of proactively examining the current state of coding compliance, productivity, and the use of technology in all day-to-day processes within health organizations. Most providers leveraged the time in each delay to further refine their implementation plan and create contingency plans, which enabled them to update coding compliance policies, job descriptions, and the technology used as part of information governance responsibilities needed to ensure best practices are being employed and all teams are adhering to the same guidelines. Using the ICD-10 delay wisely positioned health systems for success and can serve as a check-point to help determine if they are appropriately capturing revenue and remaining compliant today. Now more than ever is the time to focus on a broader strategic imperative towards high quality clinical documentation.
So when someone asks where will you be on October 1, 2015? The answer is returning from NOLA for the AHIMA 2015 Convention and watching 20 years of planning officially kick-off!
About the Author: Bonnie Cassidy is the senior director of health information management (HIM) innovation for Nuance, where she oversees the development and implementation of HIM strategies. She currently serves on the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM) Board of Directors, is a Fellow of AHIMA, an AHIMA Academy ICD-10-CM/PCS Certificate Holder and ICD-10 Ambassador, and a Fellow of HIMSS. This article was originally published on Nuance and is republished here with permission.