The ICD-10 transition delay of at least a year that was signed into law last week was widely met with ire from industry stakeholders.
"This pause in momentum discredits the significant work our industry has spent training staff, conducting testing and converting systems; not to mention the hold on improving care quality and accuracy, advancing clinical reporting and research and patient safety outcomes," said Russ Branzell, CEO of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.
However, the following groups have a more positive feeling toward the delay, according to a survey from KLAS Research. Results are based on responses from 100 provider organizations.
Some vendors: Immediately following the announcement of delay, vendors like athenahealth and NextGen issued statements asserting both their readiness for the transition and their resulting frustration about the delay. "We view this latest delay of the ICD-10 implementation deadline as yet another unfortunate example of the government's tendency to cater to the technological laggards who are keeping health IT, and the care delivery system, mired in the 20th century," said Dan Haley, vice president of government and regulatory affairs at athenahealth, in a statement.
However, not all vendors were ready for the transition. One CMIO told KLAS, "Our core vendor will be breathing a deep sigh of relief because they are not ready."
CMS: Because CMS will not begin end-to-end ICD-10 testing until the end of July, many providers surveyed did not believe CMS would have been ready by Oct. 1, 2014. According to one respondent: "I don't think CMS is ready, and they are cleverly disguising it by using providers as the reason for the delay."
Physicians and physician advocacy groups: Both the American Medical Association and the Medical Group Management Association have come out against the ICD-10 transition, arguing the cost and magnitude of the transition were too large for many physician groups to handle. The AMA estimates the transition will cost a physician practice between $225,000 and $8 million.
Some providers: Survey respondents themselves reported needing the additional time to make the transition. The director of health information management at one provider told KLAS: "This allows us to do a thorough mitigation. We will use the extra time redesigning electronic medical record smart tools to make it easier for documenters to provide the needed specificity."
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