EHR, HIPAA, HITECH, SaaS, HL7, ICD-10… healthcare IT (oops, I mean Information Technology) abounds with acronymns today. Let’s zero in on ICD-10. Why do we care? What should a healthcare foodservice or clinical nutrition director know?
ICD-10 is about standards. It’s a system for coding diseases and conditions developed by the World Health Organization. For example, there are classifications for diseases of the digestive system, cancers, etc. Just like the American Dietetic Association’s standardized nutrition diagnoses, these give healthcare a common language so we can communicate.
Standards, in time, need to become part of databases and software programs. This means that in coming years, you can expect to see clinical conditions assigned ICD-10 labels. Tom Sullivan, in his blog about ICD-10, reports about ICD-10 readiness from a recent survey by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, “A mere 9 percent of respondents have initiated their ICD-10 projects.” So, if you haven’t heard of ICD-10 yet, or feel your organization may not be up to speed yet, don’t worry. Sullivan says there is speculation that the official go-live date for ICD-10 (2013) may be pushed back. Reworking hospital information systems takes time.
IT standards are a great idea, because:
- They support efficiencies in financial systems… with the aim of improving healthcare revenue models.
- They allow clinical professionals, including Registered Dietitians and Diet Technicians, Registered, to speak a common language, collect data, and put information to work.
The more effectively we can place clinical information where it’s needed to empower clinical professionals, the more effectively we can improve patient care. That’s our IT mission.
What should you know today? Know the lingo. Know that these codes will appear in your hospital IT system… sometime. Know that information is the seed of innovation. Read more about ICD-10 on the Vision Software website >
by Tracey Turnquist, Director of Marketing and Sales, Vision Software