The ICD-10 delay has caused many providers to either slow down or suspend their preparation efforts, according to a new survey from the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange.
In the October 2013 survey, about 60 percent of providers said they planned to begin ICD-10 testing by the summer of 2014. In the new survey, conducted in August, just one-third of providers said they had begun testing, and most of the rest said they will not start until 2015.
The survey also found just one-half of providers have completed an ICD-10 impact assessment, the same percent that said this step was completed in the October 2013 survey. The rest of providers either said they would complete the assessment sometime in 2015 or didn't know when they would complete it.
According to WEDI's assessment of the survey results, the slowed-down preparations could have negative consequences. "Unless all industry segments make a dedicated effort to continue to move forward with their implementation efforts, there will be significant disruption on Oct. 1, 2015," wrote WEDI Chair Jim Daley in a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell asking for more support for future readiness surveys.
More articles on ICD-10:
CMS seeks volunteers for ICD-10 testing
5 steps to address the coding talent shortage in 2014 and 2015
A year away from ICD-10, what to do now to prepare