ICD 10- Be prepared!

Hopefully by now you should all be aware that ICD-10-CM is coming. October 1, 2015 is the date of transition and there are no plans for another delay. But what does this change mean and why is everyone so concerned? ICD-10-CM stands for International Classification of Disease, Clinical Modification 10^th revision and is currently being used by the rest of the world. We need to make the transition to this diagnosis code set as it allows for descriptions in advancements in medicine and greater specificity in code selection.

 Sounds easy enough, new codes, greater specificity, what’s the concern? The concern is in the clinician documentation- will the documentation be specific enough to determine the codes in ICD-10? There’s no question that the care is being provided, but are clinicians fully documenting all that they are doing? UI Health has employed the assistance of Cognizant and Nuance to assist with the transition. Nuance has put together training modules for the clinicians to educate them on the code changes. All physicians and residents should be enrolled in these training modules through LMS. Matthew Johnson, MD is the Physician Champion and has been meeting with each department to discuss ICD-10. In addition, every department has a physician champion identified that will also assist with getting this message out.  Department chairs and Department Administrators are receiving a weekly list indicating physician compliance with the training modules. All modules must be completed by June 30, 2015. Coming soon, the non-physician practitioners will be assigned LMS modules and will need to complete them by June 30, 2015. Department Administrators or Clinic Directors please notify Randy Clements if you have any NPPs that need training if you have not yet done so. You can reach Randy at randy.clements@nuance.com. Training for nursing and surgery schedulers will take place as well, although their level of training will not be as detailed. Coder training is also underway. Coders from ambulatory administration have been assigned LMS modules. If you have a coder in your area (not an ambulatory administration or WWT coder) and you have not yet requested training for them, please contact Randy. If you are unsure if a staff member that needs training answer this question – are they currently doing anything with ICD-9 diagnosis codes? If the answer is yes, then they need training. The amount of training is dependent on how much work they will do. They can do just a simple overview for a basic understanding, or a very detailed training for a specific clinical area.

Cognizant is the group that is assessing our ICD-10 readiness and helping us prepare. They have been working with UI Health to develop a timeline for the transition and are testing to ensure our readiness. Some of you may be asked to assist in the testing. Feedback will be provided once we have more information.

Bottom line, ICD-10 is coming and we must be prepared. There is a lot of information and education on this topic and it can be overwhelming. Please be patient and read the information being given. With everyone’s assistance, this transition can be as smooth as possible as long as we all work together.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at syoung@uic.edu or 312-355-5011.