Few Healthcare Providers are Prepared for ICD-10 Despite Ticking Clock

OREM, UT, October 25, 2011 (Press-News.org) Less than ten percent of healthcare providers are over halfway there in terms of being fully prepared for ICD-10, according to the KLAS report, "ICD-10: Preparing for October 2013." While providers know a lack of preparation could result in a halt to reimbursements and a revenue cycle disaster when ICD-10 comes, KLAS found that most organizations are still in the strategy/planning phase of their preparation.

This is significant given that providers further down the path of preparation told KLAS that ICD-10 readiness is a complex and costly initiative--one that will require significant time and resources. One patient accounting director said, "We know there is a lot of work to be done. In our opinion, meaningful use is a cakewalk compared to ICD-10."

This research found that many providers have not yet established an ICD-10 budget. That said, feedback from more progressive organizations indicate ICD-10 won't be cheap. Some large health systems are planning to spend tens of millions of dollars on their ICD-10 preparation, while some mid-size hospitals are planning to spend several million. Some of the internal steps these providers have taken are developing a steering committee; creating a comprehensive ICD-10 readiness strategy; developing training plans for coders, physicians, nurses and other staff; assessing compliance and technology needs; and formulating a detailed budget.

Nearly two-thirds of providers in this study are engaging or planning to engage with third party firms to assist with one or more of these preparation steps. The report found that the majority of these providers currently engaging with firms do so for strategy and gap-analysis work; whereas, most providers planning to use a third-party firm in the future say they will do so for training their staff. Many providers are rushing to engage with firms, as demand for them is increasing. "It is a feeding frenzy for consultants," one healthcare provider told KLAS. "We thought maybe... we would get in there before the price for an assessment skyrocketed."

"ICD-10: Preparing for October 2013" also explored providers' greatest concerns regarding ICD-10, with internal organizational readiness--namely staff training and physician/nurse readiness--topping the list. It also found that 60 percent of providers were concerned about the ICD-10 readiness of their core clinical/financial vendor. Nearly half of those interviewed said they felt their coding vendor was their most progressive vendor in helping them prepare for ICD-10 readiness.

For this research KLAS interviewed 163 providers to understand their ICD-10 readiness strategy, major concerns, progress in preparing, confidence in their core and component vendors' ICD-10 readiness, and intentions for using third-party firms to assist them. Core vendors mentioned in this report are 3M, Allscripts, Cerner, Epic, GE Healthcare, Ingenix, McKesson, MEDITECH, QuadraMed, and Siemens. Other vendors mentioned are CPSI, Healthland, HMS, and MedAssets. Major third party firms mentioned are 3M, Accenture, Advisory Board, AHIMA, Deloitte, HIM Consulting, J.A. Thomas, maxIT, McKesson, Precyse, PwC, and QuadraMed.

To learn more about the ICD-10 readiness preparations of healthcare providers, as well as how vendors and third-party firms are helping them prepare, the report "ICD-10: Preparing for October 2013" is available to healthcare providers online for a significant discount. To purchase the report, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.

KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from more than 4500 hospitals and more than 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics that provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, medical equipment, and infrastructure vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email marketing@KLASresearch.com, or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.