ICD-10 by itself will be a major challenge for all stakeholders, but
those participating in meaningful use also will face a transition in
diagnostic-driven meaningful use quality measures from ICD-9 to ICD-10,
says Stephen Spain, M.D., the session presenter, a practicing family
physician and CEO at Doc-U-Chart, a Tyler, Texas-based consulting firm.
That means changing the coding and documentation of quality measures
in the meaningful use program, possibly sometime during Stage 2 but
certainly by Stage 3. Unlike changes to the HIPAA financial and
administrative transactions, providers cannot assume their vendors will
do most of the work to be ready for ICD-10, Spain warns. If an EHR
system isn’t properly documenting with ICD-10 when required under
meaningful use, achieving meaningful isn’t going to happen. For now,
providers should ensure that coders and clinicians are well represented
on teams to prepare for ICD-10 and meaningful use preparation, as well
as overseeing vendor performance. “You can’t count on your EHR vendor to
make sure all the processes are done and work properly, he adds.”
As ICD-10 progresses, there will be guidance developed to help
providers navigate the necessary tweaks to their meaningful use
programs, Spain says. The National Quality Forum, for instance is
reviewing meaningful use criteria to assess the needed changes. And
medical specialty societies are working to update their quality measures
to support the coming convergence of meaningful use and ICD-10,
including deciding which of competing codes within ICD-10 would be the
most appropriate to measure.
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