In the healthcare industry, we’re quickly approaching the homestretch for making our Information Technology compliant with ICD-10 standards. One of the most important questions to ask yourself is: “Are we on the same page as our IT vendor(s) in terms of the definition of “ICD-10 Compliant?” Compliance doesn’t always equate to usability within your organization, or with your particular system configuration.
It’s important that you address the remediation of your Information Technology from these different angles:
Is your IT product ICD-10 compliant?
Compliance frequently indicates the technology can handle ICD-10; yet, not all vendors define compliance the same way. Some vendors equate compliance to a fully functional product. Other vendors equate compliance to obscure modifications such as a data model that will require a great deal of additional work for your organization.
Is your product usable?
Often, technology that can handle ICD-10 “out of the box” doesn’t take into consideration your organization’s customizations, workflows, security plan, etc. Understanding what you need to do to make your technology usable may result in a multi-month project.
Does your IT product have functionality available?
Sometimes, ICD-10 functionality is driven by additional configuration and/or security. A few vendors are embedding a role-based approach into compliant products whereby security becomes key. Other vendors are using configuration as a driver giving you control on which Payer, DOS, Specialty, etc. uses ICD-10 (and when). In either case, the upgrade to the compliant version does not automatically make the functionality available.
It is absolutely necessary to ask more than one question of your vendor when talking about an “ICD-10 Compliant” product. Be sure you are on the same page and have planned accordingly.
Ensuring your product is compliant can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re in need of support for this initiative, our team of experts is here to help.
