The battle over the ICD-10 transition will come to a head in 2014, as we approach the Oct. 1 compliance date. While many organizations, such as the American Medical Association continue to advocate for a delay of any kind, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have been adamant that one will not happen again.
In this Healthcare Informatics podcast, Janice Wurz, senior advisor at Impact Advisors, speaks with Senior Editor, Gabriel Perna on the ICD-10 transition. Specifically, Wurz talks about what has been holding back many providers in achieving readiness.
Janice Wurz
“I think the challenges facing providers are vendor readiness, timely staff training and expertise, and payer readiness,” Wurz says. She details why each of these have been tough for providers. “Most of the frustration I’ve been seeing comes from providers is lack of communication.”
In the second part, Wurz talks about what these providers can do to achieve peace of mind as the Oct. 1 compliance date nears, and gives explicit advice on communicating with vendors. “The number one thing that I can get for peace of mind that I can get on the calendar of a vendor that they are going to help me at this time do the testing I need to do, help get me the software loaded I need to get loaded,” she says.
Lastly, Wurz makes a prediction on how the battle over a possible delay will shape out over the course of the year. In her eyes, there would be a huge pushback from many entities if there was another delay.
“I’m hopeful at this point it’s full speed ahead,” she says.
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