The Coalition for ICD-10, a broad-based healthcare industry advocacy group, wrote a blog this week about some of its members’ experiences with ICD-10 to date. So far, the reviews have been positive.
According to one payer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, its “ICD-10 implementation went very smoothly. Call center volumes and overall inquiries are very low. Professional and facility claims are processing as expected. A few issues noted, which we are resolving, but nothing major to report. Received kudos from our hospitals stating that BCBSM was the first payer to pay ICD-10 claims and these claims are paying as expected. Hospitals are not reporting any major issues. Other payers (Priority, Cigna, Aetna) are reporting the same experience in that they are not seeing any major issues.”
On the provider side, Nemours Children’s Health System, based in Jacksonville, Fla., also reported few problems so far. According to Bonnie Hudak, M.D., practicing pediatric pulmonologist at the organization, “From my perspective as a practicing doctor and as a physician leader on the ICD-10 preparation team, the transition on Oct. 1 went extraordinarily well thanks to the many years of work by staff members across our health system. I was in clinic on Oct. 1 and encountered very minimal workflow disruption. Additionally, our patients did not experience delays or problems associated with the ICD-10 transition. The next step is to see how it goes with payers in the coming months, but I am optimistic.”
The healthcare industry went live with the transition to the new coding set on the 1st of the month. At the time, the Coalition called it “a historic moment for U.S. healthcare and a major milestone in the evolving transformation of our 21st century healthcare delivery system.”
