On Thursday, The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) announced the release of its latest ICD-10 readiness survey to help determine how prepared the healthcare industry is prepared for the upcoming Oct. 1, 2015 compliance deadline. With less than 111 days left , providers, health plans, vendors and clearinghouses are invited to participate in this important initiative to help gauge progress for all parties.
With the implementation deadline fast approaching, providers, health plans, vendors and clearinghouses are invited to participate in this important initiative to help gauge progress for all parties. The survey is available here. The final submission deadline is July 10, 2015. The survey results will be evaluated and compiled into a report for the industry.
“Our most recent ICD-10 readiness survey was conducted in February of this year, and we received a great response with nearly 1,200 respondents helping us to track the progress and readiness of specific areas of the industry,” said Jim Daley, WEDI past-chair and ICD-10 Workgroup co-chair in a statement. He added, “now that it’s ‘crunch time’ with only a few months to go until the implementation deadline, it is important that we evaluate what progress the industry has made in the last several months and what areas need a greater focus in the months ahead.”
In its March 31 letter to the HHS Secretary, WEDI reported concern with the current level of industry preparedness noting that many organizations did not take full advantage of the additional time afforded by the one-year delay.
Key findings from the previous ICD-10 readiness survey include:
- Compliance date uncertainty: Uncertainty around further delays was listed as a primary obstacle to implementation, appearing on more than 50 percent of all responses for vendors, health plans and providers.
- Health plan testing: More than 50 percent of health plans have begun external testing, and of these, a few have completed testing. This is a slight improvement from the prior survey.
- Vendor product availability: About 60 percent indicated their vendor products were available or they had started customer testing. This is a slight decrease from about two-thirds in the August 2014 survey. However, the number that responded ‘unknown’ decreased from one eighth to just a handful.
- Provider testing: Only 25 percent of provider respondents had begun external testing and only a few others had completed this step. This is actually a decrease from the about 35 percent of provider respondents that had begun external testing in the August 2014 survey.
