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The ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS go live date is October 1, 2013. Even though there are 942 days until then - we all know how time flies!

This is a good time to set some basic goals to accomplish in 2011, in preparation for ICD-10. Following are some goals to consider:

1. Create awareness in your facility. Include an article in your employee newsletter, or on your internal website alerting staff to the upcoming transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
2. Establish an internal planning committee. This committee should include your HIM manager, HIM coding professional, senior management, IT manager, clinical manager and financial services manager. This committee will develop the organization's ICD-10 implementation strategy, as well as identify actions, personnel, and deadlines for required tasks.
3. Gain an understanding of the final rules for ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS. It is important to be aware of the implementation timelines. Determine how these timelines may be integrated with other changes that will occur in the interim, such as the electronic health record and quality indicator initiatives.
4. Utilize strategies for change management. Coding staff have worked with ICD-9 for many years; therefore, you can eliminate the fear factor by ensuring adequate education and training processes for your employees. Include the coding staff in the impact analysis.
5. Assess readiness for 5010 transaction standards. These standards are directly linked to the implementation of ICD-10 reporting. January 1, 2012, is the deadline for all organizations that exchange coding and billing information to update to the 5010 version.
6. Determine all systems that will be impacted by the transition to ICD-10. This includes DRG and APC groupers, encoding software, abstracting systems, billing systems, and compliance software. Consider questions like: How will the legacy data be managed? How long will the facility maintain both the legacy and new coding system?
7. Plan ahead for training. It is essential to assess early the training needs for coding staff, physicians, billing staff, nursing staff, and others who currently use ICD-9 codes. Inpatient coders will require approximately 50 hours of training and outpatient coders approximately 20-25 hours. Training hours will vary for other staff, dependent on their job descriptions.
8. Conduct a gap analysis of coding knowledge. An in-depth knowledge-base of anatomy, physiology, and terminology is required to appropriately assign ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes.
9. Conduct a gap analysis of physician documentation. The terminology of ICD-10, especially in ICD-10-PCS, is very different than ICD-9. The current documentation practices of the staff physicians should be reviewed to determine if ICD-10-CM and PCS codes could be assigned accurately per the documentation present in the record.
10. Budget Planning. Identify a budget for each department that will be involved in the implementation of ICD-10. Include the cost of system changes, hardware and software upgrades and education costs. An increase in AR days must be planned for, due to an anticipated decrease in productivity during the learning phase of ICD-10 coding, an increase in denial of claims, and the need for more physician queries.