Edifecs Survey Finds ICD-10 Delay Will Be Problematic
March 1, 2012
In a recent article, ICD-10 Conflict Taking the Form of a World Heavyweight Title Fight, a downside noted was “any significant delay to the current ICD-10 implementation deadline could raise the implementation cost to medical practices.” A survey conducted by Edifecs has revealed an estimated dollar amount of what the cost increase would potentially be if the ICD-10 implementation deadline is delayed by one year.
Edifecs, a developer of regulatory compliance and data exchange technologies, conducted the poll less than forty-eight hours after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement it would consider delaying the ICD-10 implementation deadline for certain entities. Participants in the poll consisted of more than fifty senior healthcare professionals attending the 2012 ICD-10 Summit, a conference hosted by Edifecs. Senior officials have said that the survey was one of the first to evaluate the healthcare industry reaction to the HHS announcement.
As healthcare organizations are investing heavily for ICD-10 implementation, cost was a big concern. When survey participants were asked about the impact of a potential one year delay, almost half of poll respondents said it would increase implementation costs between eleven and twenty-five percent, and another thirty-seven percent said their costs would be up to fifty percent. Edifies has estimated the cost of a one year delay to be between twenty-five to thirty percent. When taking into account existing overall cost estimates for ICD-10 implementation, officials estimate a one year delay in ICD-10 could cost the healthcare industry anywhere from $475 million to more than $4 billion dollars.
Edifecs CEO Sunny Singh, when commenting on the survey results said, “The message we heard loud and clear from conference attendees and survey respondents was to keep moving while the industry awaits the final decision on the extended deadline and which entities will be affected.” “The survey results tell us that stopping or slowing down work is a very real outcome of a delay, and it could derail a healthcare organization’s progress. The cost implications alone are worrisome.”
To learn more about the Edifecs survey and outcomes click here (pdf).
Frank J. Rosello
is CEO & Co-Founder of Environmental Intelligence LLC.
Environmental Intelligence, LLC, is a complete, full-service healthcare IT solution provider. With a team having more than 10 years of proven clinical expertise in delivering end-to-end health IT solutions, Environmental Intelligence provides medical practices and facilities onsite expert IT consulting, installation, and implementation that is focused on physicians, their patients, and the quality of their care.
Contact us to learn more about our Physician Focused – Patient Driven® approach to Health IT.
