Some members of the healthcare industry may not have taken advantage of the delayed ICD-10 deadline, leaving them unprepared for the approaching Oct. 1 transition date.
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange, a Reston, Va.-based health IT research nonprofit, conducted a survey that found varied readiness in the industry, prompting the organization to send a letter of concern to the HHS. More than half of the 1,100 organizations are uncertain of the deadline after the multiple delays, according to a news release.
More than half are also still in the process of end-to-end testing, and 60 percent indicated that their vendor products were available or had started customer testing. This is a decrease from an earlier survey in August 2014, prompting concern, according to the news release.
"Based on the survey results, it appears the delay has had a negative impact on some readiness activities — especially external testing," said Jim Daley, WEDI past-chair and ICD-10 workgroup co-chair. "Uncertainty over further delays was listed as a top obstacle across all industry segments. 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."