The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), the nation’s leading nonprofit authority on the use of health IT to create efficiencies in healthcare information exchange, recently announced the release of its findings from its February 2015 ICD-10 Industry Readiness Survey. In a March 31 letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, WEDI reported concern with the current level of industry preparedness, noting that many organizations did not take full advantage of the additional time afforded by the one-year delay.
“Unless all industry segments take the initiative to make a dedicated effort and move forward with their implementation work, there will be significant disruption on Oct. 1, 2015,” said Devin Jopp, Ed.D, president and CEO of WEDI.
Highlights from the latest survey findings include:
- Compliance date uncertainty: Uncertainty regarding further ICD-10 delays was listed as a primary obstacle to implementation, appearing on more than 50 percent of all responses for vendors, health plans, and providers.
- Health plan testing: More than 50 percent of health plans have begun external testing, and of these, a few have completed testing. This is a slight improvement from the prior survey.
- Vendor product availability: About 60 percent indicated that their vendor products were available or that they had started customer testing. This is a slight decrease from a reported percentage of about two-thirds in the August 2014 survey. However, the number that responded “unknown” decreased from one-eighth of respondents to just a handful.
- Provider testing: Only 25 percent of provider respondents had begun external testing and only a few others had completed this step. This is actually a decrease from the approximately 35 percent of provider respondents that had begun external testing in the August 2014 survey.
“Based on the survey results, it appears the delay has had a negative impact on some readiness activities — especially external testing. Uncertainty over further delays was listed as a top obstacle across all industry segments,” said Jim Daley, past chairman of WEDI and currently the ICD-10 Workgroup co-chair. “While the delay provided more time for the transition to ICD-10, many organizations did not take full advantage of this additional time, and many providers are falling further behind.”
Date: April 6, 2015