7 ways to accelerate ICD-10 readiness

While many healthcare providers and payers have reduced their exposure to ICD-10 financial, technical and operating risks, numerous other organizations have delayed ICD-10 preparation. Strategies were devised to reduce wasted efforts and improve the productivity of ICD-10 implementation for organizations who have delayed conversion.

Here are seven ways to speed up the process:

1. Organization must forgo traditional project management tools to compensate for the narrow timeframe of implementation. Organizations should have daily project status meetings more frequently and for shorter durations of time to keep the team on track and speed the process.

2. Providers and payers must at the very least understand the basics of ICD-l0. Infrastructure and rapid action initiatives should enable members to understand ICD-10's emphasis on comprehensiveness, assessment governance, process documentation and project management.

3. ICD-10 needs to be implemented now into organization's daily operations so staff members see the usefulness of ICD-10 rather than viewing it as a complicated imposition. Weekly meetings to review the codes and their documentation will make this process easier to adopt.

4. Online resources should be utilized to enable the look-up, verification and validation of ICD-10 codes. By validating the codes, organizations significantly reduce technical risks.

5. With the October 1 deadline quickly approaching, gradual and systematic improvements are no longer a viable approach. Rather, organizations must focus on rapid, repeated small-scale success. The goal is to yield results in a more tangible process.

6. A multidisciplinary team with clinical, financial, technical and operational expertise should be assembled. The team should work in close proximity and conduct face-to-face meetings to discuss responsibilities and communication within the organization.

7. Organizations regardless of where they are in the process must have a contingency plan devised for October 1. Team members should work through different scenarios like documentation shortfalls, system failures and coding inaccuracies to have an action plan in case such situations arise on or after the deadline.

For more CBC news:
All bundled up: Epidural injections and fluoroscopy
AMA: Physicians need protections for ICD-10 roll-out — 8 things to know
Arkansas providers face coding change in the fall — 8 key notes

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