SPi Healthcare CEO Shares Position on ICD-10 Delay: Continue to Move Forward and Implement Coder & Physician Education Now

John O’Donnell cites the importance of getting coders and physicians educated to embrace ICD-10 initiatives to achieve successful patient and financial outcomes

TINLEY PARK, IL – March 1, 2012 – After the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the ICD-10 delay for deadline compliance, John O’Donnell, president and CEO of SPi Healthcare, the leading integrated revenue cycle and clinical documentation improvement firm, believes that the industry should keep moving ahead with their ICD-10 efforts, and continue to implement a program of coder and physician ICD-10 education as soon as possible.

“Many hospitals and providers have already invested a significant amount of time, resources and money to prepare for this major initiative so it doesn’t make sense to stop efforts at this point,” explains Mr. O’Donnell.

Coder & Physician Education
SPi Healthcare believes coder and physician education and adoption is a key element to the success of a healthcare organization’s ICD-10 initiatives. “Health Information Management professionals need to continue their efforts in education and advocate to their clinicians the importance and benefits of adopting ICD-10,” continues Mr. O’Donnell. “Without a coder’s or physician’s complete understanding and buy-in of ICD-10, the program will not succeed, so education is critical.”

Opportunity to Get Things in Order
“As ICD-10 continues to loom in the horizon, even while the exact implementation deadline is not specified yet, organizations must continue their initiatives in clinical documentation improvement, DRG (Diagnosis Related Group) validation and minimize further risks for reduced payer incentives.”

“Allow your coding staff to have continued exposure to the code sets including hands-on dual coding with ICD-9 and ICD-10 simultaneously. Coding with ICD-10 now will assist organizations in identifying areas for improvement in their medical staff documentation practices while reducing financial and administrative burden. In addition to continued coding education, organizations must not lose sight of the importance of reviewing and validating clinicians’ medical record documentation to comply with their internal compliance programs as well as regulatory and third-party payer requirements. And finally, don’t rely on a clearinghouse vendor or GEMS to act as a translation dictionary to bridge the language gap between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS.”

Keep Forging Ahead No Matter What Stage You Are In
Mr. O’Donnell concludes: “Organizations that are ahead in the preparation for ICD-10 should continue to move forward, and for those who have not started, this is an opportune time to begin. ICD-10 is not a matter of if, but when, so take the time to get ready, practice and test so that the transition is smooth once the compliance date is finally here.”

For more information, or to speak to Mr. O’Donnell directly, please contact [email protected]

About SPi Healthcare
SPi Healthcare's full-spectrum approach to revenue cycle management and clinical documentation improvement enables their clients to join the ranks of healthcare’s best-performing providers. SPi Healthcare, a Healthcare Informatics HCI 100 company, accelerates cash flow and mitigates risk, facilitating improved operations through reinvestment and strategic growth on behalf of their clients.

SPi Healthcare is a business unit of SPi Global, BPO company of the year in the International ICT Awards, and a leading, globally recognized, full-service BPO provider with 30 offices and facilities around the world including the US, Netherlands, Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Australia. SPi Global has over 18,000 employees delivering a wide range of solutions in Customer Relationship Management, Content, and Healthcare.

Contact: Tracy Hartman
                978-462-0002 x103
                [email protected]