Remember the new, uber-complicated system of medical codes coming soon? You know, the ones that will tell your insurance company whether this was the first, second or third time your pet parrot bit you?
This is referring to the dramatic change in how doctors and hospitals code procedures to get proper insurance reimbursements. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons says the total pool of medical codes will expand from 17,000 to roughly 141,000, delineating between ailments and their treatments with utmost specificity.
Well, the government already delayed the go-live date once for the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases until 2013. Then it delayed it again until October 2014 because the private sector was so concerned it wouldn’t be ready.
And now it’s almost 2014. And huge swaths of the industry are way behind schedule again, according to the Reston-based Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange, out with a new survey this month tracking preparation for the new medical codes.
“Based on survey results, it is clear the industry continues to make slow progress, but not the amount of progress that is needed for a smooth transition,” wrote work group Chairman Jim Daley. “The industry is far behind the milestones suggested in the WEDI/NCHICA timeline, and has slipped further behind when compared to the February 2013 survey results.”
Of particular concern:
- Only one-quarter of technology vendors say their new system-ready products are complete, and a full one-fifth say they’re less than halfway done with product development to accommodate the new codes.
- About 60 percent of health plans don’t plan to start external testing these systems until the new year.
- Only one in 10 medical providers (doctors, hospitals and clinics) say they’ve started external testing, and only half say they’ll start in the first half of 2014.
There’s still nine months to go. But this is an extraordinary undertaking, one that could freeze the medical business in its tracks if it goes south. And we already saw what happens in health technology when everyone adopts a just-in-time mentality about new software, interoperability and hard start dates.
Originally published on: BizJournals.com
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