The postponement of the ICD-10 compliance deadline until Oct. 1, 2015, could have allowed software vendors more time to come out with new products, writes Avery Hurt for Diagnostic Imaging.
Instead, the delay caused more issues for these software companies than it probably solved, she writes, namely with Stage 2 rules of meaningful use.
While practices around the country wait for their software providers to catch up, there is more to do than to wait and worry, however.
The American Association of Professional Coders, in particular, offers training for the ICD-10 switchover.
"We like to focus on the documentation concepts rather than just focusing on the codes themselves," Rhonda Buckholtz, AAPC's vice president of education and training, says. "These concepts vary according to specialty, so there are fewer of them overall for any given specialty; some specialties have more than others. This approach improves all EHR documentation, not just coding, immediately."
The scheduling of this kind of training can be complicated, Robert Tennant, the Medical Group Management Association's senior policy advisor for governmental affairs.
If training happens too soon, practices may need to retrain, he said. If they wait too long, there may be scheduling issues.
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