Some industry pundits have called it "Y2K on steroids."
Summary: ICD-10 will multiply and alter the codes US providers and payers use for coding medical information. The number of available codes will expand from 24,000 to 155,000. The goal is to improve the health of our citizens and to help the American health care system share data more accurately in diagnosing and treating diseases.
Our new series, 5: insights for executives, explores five big questions regarding ICD-10:
- Why do we need to transition?
- What do health care providers need to do?
- What do health care payers need to do?
- How much is this going to cost?
- What will be different?
Overview of ICD-10
On October 1, 2013, the US will move from the ICD-9 system of disease classification to ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition). It's a date set in stone by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
From that date forward, ICD-9 codes cannot be used to send claims and report services, and until that date, ICD-10 codes cannot be used.
There is no grace period, and opting out is not an option.
ICD-10 is a change on par with Y2K
ICD-10 has the potential to affect the entire cycle of care delivery. Some industry pundits have called it "Y2K on steroids."
"ICD-10 is similar to Y2K in that systems will need to be remediated and tested. Yet it involves so much more than changing technology," according to Craig Kappel of Ernst & Young LLP. "The impact on finances, operations, clinical processes and people is unprecedented. This is not a compliance exercise by any stretch of the imagination. This is organization-wide business process transformation."
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