AHIMA Advantage - August 2012

Pass Go and Collect an Extra Year: The ICD-10-CM/PCS Delay

While not a “get out of jail free” card, the proposed delay in the ICD-10-CM/PCS go-live date could be seen as a “pass go and collect an extra year to prepare.” “With the potential delay in ICD- 10 implementation, we may now have the luxury of one extra year to do it right,” said Shiny George, MS, RHIA, CPHIMS, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, senior director of health information management at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia, PA.

In February 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule that would set the ICD-10- CM/PCS go-live date to October 1, 2014. In an April letter to the HHS Secretary, AHIMA argued that CMS should allow no additional future delays. AHIMA is taking a strong position that the sooner ICD- 10 is implemented, the sooner the US healthcare system can improve quality of care.

documentation will impact coding, the increased potential for data to be collected and shared, and ultimately the impact on reimbursements.

“Documentation is the main key to success. System and process change will happen, but if we can’t get the specificity in the documentation required for coding, all other work will be in vain,” said George.

Mary H. Stanfill, MBI, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, FAHIMA, vice-president of HIM consulting services at United Audit Systems, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH, agreed. “Hospitals that already have a CDI program will need to tweak those efforts to incorporate ICD- 10 elements. And hospitals that don’t already have a CDI program will need one in order to accomplish a smooth transition,” she said.

Kim Felix, RHIA, CCS, director of education in the coding/HIM consulting/ EMR abstraction division at IOD Inc., based in Green Bay, WI, added, “If you clean up your documentation by the time ICD- 10 hits, you’ll be 10 steps ahead. And guess what? You will also reap immediate benefits with your ICD- 9 coding!”

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