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ICD-10 implementation costs continue to be a concern for healthcare organizations and a common topic of conversations throughout conferences, networking and probably across a few bar stools. The extended deadline to October 2014 didn’t diminish that concern. In fact in some cases, it probably added to the pressure. The costs associated to the transition can easily reach a quarter to half a billion dollars for the information technology, training and other upgrades.

Edifecs, Inc. was chosen by Molina Healthcare as a strategic technology partner to address the ICD-10 coding classification transition.

Folks like the American Medical Association are constantly referring to how complicated the ICD-10 implementation will be. We all know the stakes are high if healthcare providers don’t get it right. If only that was all the healthcare community had to deal with right now.

In the midst of all the challenges, healthcare payers appear to be more accepting of the ICD-10 transition. The complexity of the ICD-10 compliance isn’t lost on them, but they seem to be open to the challenges. It makes one wonder why there are more supportive of the transition than the providers.

At the recent HIMSS Virtual Conference and Expo, big data was a top topic. One of the speaker’s focusi included the fragmentation of data.

Many things have changed in the health care industry and many more are likely to follow suit. Two of the most significant changes recently have been the delay of the ICD-10 implementation and the more recent Supreme Court review of the Affordable Care Act.

The Department of Health and Human Services closed the comment period on the proposed rule to delay ICD-10 May 17. Now they are reviewing those comments and deciding how to proceed. Providers are waiting and feeling the uncertainty about when ICD-10 will happen and whether they should continue moving forward with their preparations.

It seems like every day there is another organization, provider or interested party sharing their opinion on the ICD-10 delay. Today, it is the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) offering slightly differing opinions on the ICD-10 implementation process.