Most Popular Stories
- Higher-spending hospitals see better emergency outcomes
- NQF approves resource use, cost measures
- Hospital CEO: ACOs need 'optimal' IT use to succeed
- Nonprofit hospital execs see pay bumps amid layoffs
- Ultrasound, MRI improve breast cancer detection
- Senator: Accountable Care Act repeal will hamper EHR adoption
Events
- Emergency Department Practice Management Association Solutions Summit
May 20-23 — Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, Boston, MA - MDMA Annual Meeting
May 30th – June 1st, 2012 — Washington, DC - ExL Pharma's Accountable Care Organization Emerging Models
July 23-25 — Baltimore, MD - IHI Web & ACTION: Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Primary Care
May 31, 2012
Paid Research Reports
-
Electronic health records: getting it right first time
-
Cloud Computing Adoption In The APAC Life Sciences Industry
-
Stakeholder Opinions: Ophthalmology - Leading brands under threat
-
Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics in Diagnostics: Market landscape, innovative technologies and future outlook
-
Healthcare Regulatory Update: The United Arab Emirates
-
Point of Care Testing: Evaluating the return to evidence based medicine, novel technologies and the competitive landscape
Free Newsletter
Free Newsletter
FierceHealthPayer provides the latest news about the fast-changing and heavily regulated area of healthcare reimbursement. Join 16,000 healthcare plan executives who get FierceHealthPayer via twice weekly email. Sign up today!
Top Tags
Insurers lose out with ICD-10 delay
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services decision to delay implementation of ICD-10 likely will have far-reaching, negative ramifications for health insurers. One of the biggest problems in deciding to delay the ICD-10 deadline--previously set at Oct. 1, 2013--is that HHS hasn't yet announced a new timeline. The longer HHS takes to make that decision, the more complicated and difficult the challenge becomes for insurers, according to AIS Health.
The ICD-10 delay has "very far-reaching consequences" for health insurers, "and it's getting more complex by the day from the standpoint of not knowing [the new deadline] and the ramifications of what that means to each organization," Juliet Santos, senior director of medical banking and financial systems, said at the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference last month.
That's largely because insurers already have spent millions of dollars on information technology improvements related to ICD-10 implementation. In fact, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) estimates that the entire health insurance industry could spend as much as $3 billion on ICD-10.
In addition to the extensive costs, insurers have dedicated significant time and energy toward ICD-10 compliance when they could have redirected their attention to the multiple health reform requirements they must meet. And without knowing the new deadline, insurers must suspend conversion projects like ICD-10 testing, which industry guidelines previously were suggesting should begin later this year. If the new ICD-10 deadline happens to coincide around other health reform compliance requirements, insurers could face a dearth of IT resources, AIS Health noted.
Of course, insurers aren't alone in grappling with the repercussions of an ICD-10 delay. A survey conducted last month by Edifecs found that a two-year delay could be "catastrophic." Moreover, 64 percent of respondents said a delay wouldn't improve readiness, and more than 75 percent said the delay actually would hinder other health reform efforts, FierceHealthIT reported. When it comes to costs, 49 percent of respondents think their budgets will increase between 11 and 25 percent for every year the ICD-10 deadline is postponed. No respondents think that costs will go down due to the delay.
To learn more:
- read the AIS Health article
Related Articles:
Survey: ICD-10 delay could be 'catastrophic'
ICD-10 may not be postponed for everyone
Upgrading IT not a one-time occurrence for payer success
Insurers in dark ages with outdated IT
New cost estimates, guidance help insurers implement ICD-10
Home | Subscribe | Advertise | Mobile Edition | RSS | Privacy | Site Map | EditorsTHE FIERCEMARKETS NETWORKFierceEnergy | FierceSmartGrid | FierceFinance | FierceFinanceIT | FierceComplianceIT | FierceHealthcare | FierceHealthFinance | FierceHealthIT | Hospital Impact | FierceMobileHealthcare | FierceHealthPayer | FiercePracticeManagement | FierceEMR | FierceCIO | FierceCIO:TechWatch | FierceContentManagement | FierceMobileIT | FierceGovernmentIT | FierceGovernment | FierceHomelandSecurity | FierceBiotech | FierceBiotech Research | FiercePharma | FierceVaccines | FierceBiotechIT | FiercePharma Manufacturing | FierceMedicalDevices | FierceDrugDelivery | FierceCRO | FierceIPTV | FierceOnlineVideo | FierceTelecom | FierceEnterpriseCommunications | FierceBroadbandWireless | FierceDeveloper | FierceMobileContent | FierceWireless | FierceWireless:Europe | FierceCable© 2012 FierceMarkets. All rights reserved. |