Electronic Health Reporter

Are you ready to transition to ICD-10? The countdown is on. As those of us in healthcare know, next week the industry in the United States will (finally) undergo a significant change as we transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and is used primarily to document diagnoses in a codified manner. The most recent revision has nearly five times more codes than its predecessor because of its increased complexity and specificity of ICD-10 codes.

Healthcare organizations in the U.S. have been preparing for the ICD-10 transition for nearly five years. Multiple delays, brought on by substantial lobbying efforts against the transition, led to elongated wait time, but the time has come and we’re ready to launch. Personally, I’m glad. I look forward to healthcare moving beyond this conversation; the infighting ICD-10 has caused among members and associations in the community has done us all a disservice. Perhaps, on October 2, the day after the implementation deadline, we can begin to move on to other issues — slowly, of course — so that the brilliant minds in healthcare can once again focus on more pressing, important issues than the dollars and cents of claims and the numbers needed for them to be paid by our payer partners.

As the transition date draws near, make sure you’ve got all your priorities and details in line. ICD-10 is no lightweight matter, as you have likely discovered. Cerner created the following video, “10 Things You Should Know to Get Ready for ICD-10,” that I’m posting here, with the company’s permission. Though my publishing it is a bit last minute, the video offers some tips that might help you prepare for “doomsday.”

This video reviews what Cerner considers the top 10 things you need to do to prepare for ICD-10; it also covers technical pieces related to Cerner’s Millennium solutions, as well as operational pieces to help with the transition. Overall, it’s a nice resource that may provide you a bit of last minute ICD-10 insight and comfort for the change again. Here’s to your ICD-10 health. Enjoy!