ICD-10: The Long and Winding Road
What a long, strange trip it’s been on the road to ICD-10. It has taken more than 30 years from inception to acceptance, with numerous detours and false starts along the way. To see where we’ve been, and where we’re headed, check out the graphic below.
ICD-10 has been on the road for far too long now. It’s been a slow and painful process for the coding changes. For practice owners it will be just as painful to implement the changes, but they won’t have the luxury of delaying it.
ICD-10 hasn’t run out of gas because it’s here to stay. The deadline has been pushed twice and I don’t think it will be pushed again next year. Prepare now and in the coming year so you’ll be ready.
ICD-9 is outdated. Most payers are not ready for ICD-10. So we have a unique opportunity to stay ahead of the game and prepare for timely and painless transition. Sounds too good to be true?
Instead of “The Long and Winding Road,” the saga of ICD-10 could easily be called “The Neverending Story.”
It really is never ending…but that’s okay, just as long as you prepare for it ahead of time.
This is a great opportunity for healthcare clinicians to
drill into the coding, perform the crosswalks, and become proficient with
ICD-10 they reduce claim delays and rejections.
Stopping the payers from keeping their money!
For those that prepared and anticipated ICD-10 implementation 2014, now is not the time to slow down. Due to informative blogs, presentations and webinars, 2015 deadline is not so overwhelming.
Just because the deadline has been pushed does not mean you should stop preparing. This just means that you have a better opportunity to be prepared.
Idle hands are the Devils workshop! Just because you’ve been given more time doesn’t mean you should postpone your ICD-10 education and implementation. Eventually it will come and you will be prepared.
As the long and winding road continues , this is the time for providers to take advantage of the delays. Avoid delays in payments by being prepared for ICD-10 when it does go into effect, . Payers are expecting to reap the benefits of the unprepared.
This is a fabulous article. I am shocked of all the changes that has taken place in last 31 years !
There is too much to be gained by not making the transition. For example, insurance companies will be able to audit claims more effectively, because medical necessity for a more specific DX codes is much simpler to discredit.
Insurance companies will push for this, because they will simply have to pay less.