Adequate training will help ensure all stakeholders are educated about and comfortable with the new code set. “Investing in training leading up to the transition will pay dividends in productivity as the transition happens,” Mr. Gilbert says. He suggests hospitals go beyond the minimum in training and consider encouraging coders to update their physiology and anatomy knowledge, as ICD-10 will require more specific descriptions of diagnoses. Besides coders, one of the most important groups that need to be trained in the new coding set is physicians, because coders assign codes based on physicians’ notes for each patient. Physicians will need to change their documentation to reflect the more granular codes of ICD-10; without the correct details, the correct codes may not be applied and claims may be returned.
Mr. Gilbert also suggests hospitals create a contingency plan for decreases in productivity during the ICD-10 transition. Hospital leaders should expect this drop and plan accordingly. This contingency plan may include increasing the number of staff on duty during the transition, having a vendor representative on hand to answer questions and scheduling ongoing training during the transition.
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