Your peers have fallen behind the ICD-10 timeline and are in danger of not being ready for the drop-dead Oct. 1, 2013 implementation date, according to a recent survey conducted by the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) (PBN 10/3/11).
The study, which was released in August and compiled responses from providers, vendors, payers and clearinghouses, suggests that despite progress is being made toward compliance, the “industry is not keeping up with milestones,” the study says, meaning providers; payers and vendors alike are at risk for not being able to test before October 2013.
The delay in ICD-10 preparedness is largely due to competing timelines with getting ready for the HIPAA 5010 transition Jan. 1, 2012 and implementing electronic health records (EHR) systems and the reduced time and money flow that come with these changes, the survey says.
Here are some key takeaways from the survey:
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Providers who were surveyed said they were behind on their impact analyses, which should have been completed by January 2011.
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Vendors plan to finish testing and deliver products in 2012, according to the WEDI news release on the study. However, vendors reported that ICD-10 interest is low among their customers and that it’s not a primary focus yet.
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Like providers, a majority of payers have not done complete full impact analyses and about two-thirds said that “they would not be ready for external testing until sometime after the recommended date of January 2013,” the release says.