Hospital CEOs should care about ICD-10 implementation because that's how hospitals get paid, Marty Fattig, chief executive officer of Nemaha County Hospital in Auburn, Nebraska writes in H&HN Daily. But many senior executives have limited knowledge of their organizations' preparedness.
ICD codes are typically included in many of the software packages most hospitals use and they must be updated, writes Fattig, a member of the Health IT Policy Committee's Meaningful Use Workgroup. "If your organization is not prepared for the big day, cash flow may be impacted. If the payers to which you submit claims are not prepared, cash flow may be impacted."
But there's another reason, too, he writes. The team leading ICD-10 implementation needs senior leadership support. It's hard work requiring a team effort and a detailed plan, and those team members "need to know that you have their backs. They need to know that you will be holding all those involved accountable for the work that needs to be completed in your areas." Failure could mean significant costs later on, and it's the CEO's job "to make sure this doesn't happen."
Two-thirds of providers responding to a survey by the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange reported in August that they had slowed or put on hold their ICD-10 transition plans after the deadline was extended a year to October 2015. Smaller providers have struggled more than larger providers to recalibrate their transition plans and reschedule their impact assessments.
For more information:
- here's the commentary