WEDI ICD-10 Readiness Survey Recommends HHS Compliancy
By - As ICD-10’s spotlight beams brighter with nearly 50 days remaining until its formal implementation, the big question is – will October 2 be the beginning of a revenue cycle downward death spiral or merely just another uneventful Friday?
According to a newly released ICD-10 Industry Readiness Survey from the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), only three-quarters of physician practices predict they will be ready for ICD-10 implementation by October 1. The remaining one-quarter of physician practices say they are “unsure” about their ICD-10 preparation levels.
621 respondents were surveyed in WEDI’s 11th ICD-10 readiness survey, including 453 healthcare providers, 72 vendors, and 96 health plans to help garner a more thorough perspective regarding how prepared various segments of the healthcare industry actually are come October. These surveys, says WEDI, also identify struggling stakeholders toiling over compliance hindrances.
According to Jim Daley, WEDI Past-Chair and ICD-10 Workgroup Co-Chair, “Without a dedicated and aggressive effort to complete implementation activities in the time remaining, this lack of readiness may lead to disruption in claims processing."
Indeed, as RevCycleIntelligence.com reported, a lack of robust contingency plans on day one of the ICD-10 transition may mean “intolerable and unnecessary disruption to physician practices,” said the American Medical Association (AMA), alluding to a potential accumulation of millions of dollars of unpaid claims in approximately 50 days from today.
WEDI’s letter to HHS advocates for ICD-10 compliancy
In a series of recent letters to Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Daley encourages HHS “to continue to leverage its communication channels to promote the need for compliance because of the impact that non-compliance could have on the industry.”
Although much of the healthcare industry is nearing a state of readiness, physician practices are far from done, WEDI’s letter maintains. “We assert that if the industry, and in particular physician practices, do not make a dedicated and aggressive effort to complete their implementation activities in the time remaining, there is likely to be disruption to industry claims processing on Oct 1, 2015,” says Daley.
“In addition, we believe it is critical to closely monitor industry progress and testing results as we approach the compliance date to gauge what might occur on Oct. 1, 2015 in order to identify industry challenges and prepare for any anticipated issues. We strongly encourage HHS to leverage its communication channels to continue promoting the need for compliance,” Daley adds.
Highlights of ICD-10 survey results, WEDI recommendations
WEDI’s readiness survey – implemented under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) – highlights June 2015 results by identifying struggling stakeholders and assessing industry-wide ICD-10 readiness.
“It is critical to closely monitor industry progress and testing as we approach the compliance date to gauge what might occur on Oct. 1, 2015,” states Jean P. Narcisi, Chair of WEDI. “In light of our most recent findings, we are hopeful that industry leaders take the necessary steps to help ensure that the transition to ICD-10 is completed with minimal disruption to the healthcare industry.”
Notable features of the results are as follows:
- Nearly 20 percent of physician practices and 75 percent of hospitals and health systems have started or completed external testing
- Less than half of physicians and 60 percent of health plans say they will be ready come October
- Nearly 90 percent of hospitals and health systems confirm readiness by the compliance date
WEDI offers the following recommendations for HHS:
- Expediently provide complete transparency regarding the readiness levels of individual Medicaid agencies, by state
- CMS’s recently announced omsbudsman should be appointed quickly, well before October 1
- The go-live ICD-10 support plan should include leveraging WEDI’s and CMS’ implementation support program, with additional support needed for local determination codes (LCDs)
The aforementioned points are certainly not to be ignored. As RevCycleIntelligence.com reported, as “disastrous results” are expected come October, ICD-10 preparation energies are not yet to be considered exhausted if October 2 is to be an uneventful day when it comes to revenue cycle management.
