News: Don't look for one size fits all ICD-10 fix

April 25, 2013

Here is a statistic that will come as no surprise to most coders and CDI professionals: Approximately 50% of physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners have no clue about ICD-10. Of the remaining 50%, only a very small percentage understands how ICD-10 will affect them, Stephen Spain, MD, FAAFP, CPC, founder of Doc-U-Chart in Tyler, TX told AAPC national convention attendees earlier this month.

Providers have a lot of different perspectives on ICD-10, in part because they have very poorly conceived ideas about ICD-10. In addition, everyone is in a different practice environment, Spain said.

The impact of ICD-10 will vary by specialty. Orthopedic and emergency medicine physicians will face lots of changes, while radiology and family practice physicians will see a small impact, he said.

The net result: No one size fits all solution for ICD-10 implementation.

“One size fits most means that most people are disappointed with what they get,” Spain said.

To be successful, focus your efforts on documentation improvement that matters by taking into account the specific needs of your organization. Otherwise, you likely won’t be happy with the results.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on the ICD-10 Trainer Blog.

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