Online Tool Offers Critical Pathway for Providers to Meet ICD-10 Deadline – #HIMSS12

HIMSS and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) introduce ICD-10 Critical Pathway for Getting Started—2012 and Beyond
                                                                                                       

CHICAGO (February 20, 2012) –HIMSS and AHIMA  introduce the ICD-10 Critical Pathway for Getting Started – 2012 and Beyond.  This free, online tool appears in the HIMSS ICD-10 PlayBook and targets providers, small or large, ambulatory clinic or acute care hospital, that have not yet begun ICD-10 planning and implementation. The timeline will be part of the presentation at the 2012 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibtion’s ICD-10 Symposium, and also, at the AHIMA ICD-10-CM/PCS Summit in April, 2012.

Developed jointly, the timeline details steps healthcare providers must follow in the next 20 months (February 2012- October 2013) to meet the ICD-10 compliance deadline of October 1, 2013.  The two organizations have developed these steps to help providers reach the compliance date by following the steps in the critical path tool.

Tasks to follow appear in eight different phases:

•Internal impact assessment

•External impact assessment

•Education

•Baseline Budget Formulation

•Business Process Changes

•Internal Testing & Validation

•External Testing & Validation

•Follow-up and Evaluation
The timelines present each phase with guidance that includes an explanation of the phase, deadlines to comply, and the impact on people, business processes, and technology.

“HIMSS supports maintaining the October 1, 2013 schedule for most healthcare entities,” says HIMSS Executive Vice President Carla Smith, MA, CNM, FHIMSS.  “This new tool gives those providers that have not yet started their work a simple picture of the broad steps that need to be accomplished, deadlines to accomplish them, and some idea of the work and impacts.”

“Moving forward with ICD-10 is essential to the healthcare industry. ICD-10 data will allow us to gather patient health information that will give physicians and the healthcare industry improved measures for quality care,” said Lynne Thomas Gordon, AHIMA Chief Execuitive Officer, MBA, RHIA, FACHE. “Although a delay to ICD-10 has been proposed to by the Department of Health and  Health and Human Services, our goal is to remain vigilant in our preparation and make the pathway to ICD-10 a smooth journey for all providers”

The timeline was discussed at the ICD-10 Symposium at HIMSS12 on Monday, Feb. 20, in Las Vegas, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. At this day-long event,  critical topics covered included: consensus building, testing and implementation strategies, documentation improvement, and training and administrative simplificationing. strategies, documentation improvement, and training and administrative simplification.

For more information on ICD-10 compliance, view the HIMSS ICD-10 PlayBook, an online, collaborative tool designed to assist hospitals, ambulatory centers and practitioners in converting from ICD-9 to the ICD-10 code set. It offers offers comprehensive, reliable and time-based content, contributed by industry experts, for healthcare stakeholders. Read the HIMSS G7 report onICD-10 Transformation: Five Critical Risk-Mitigation Strategies.

About AHIMA

Representing more than 64,000 specially educated Health Information Management professionals in the United States and around the world, the American Health Information Management Association is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. www.ahima.org

About HIMSS

HIMSS is a cause-based, not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded 51 years ago, HIMSS and its related organizations are headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. HIMSS represents more than 44,000 individual members, of which more than two thirds work in healthcare provider, governmental and not-for-profit organizations. HIMSS also includes over 570 corporate members and more than 170 not-for-profit organizations that share our mission of transforming healthcare through the effective use of information technology and management systems. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, research initiatives, and media vehicles designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS and to find out how to join us and our members in advancing our cause, please visit our website at www.himss.org.

   

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