ICD-10 Survey: Readiness Poor Across the Board

A recent survey of 2,600 providers, insurers and vendors finds all three sectors remain seriously behind in ICD-10 preparations.

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange, an industry advocacy organization, conducted the survey in February and has submitted results to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS in February announced an unspecified delay in the Oct. 1, 2013 ICD-10 compliance date. Based on the premise that ICD-10 impact assessments should have been completed in 2011, the WEDI survey results find:

* Nearly half of providers did not know when they will complete the impact assessment;

* More than a third of insurers had completed their impact assessment and a quarter of them were less than halfway done;

* One-third of providers expected to begin external testing in 2013 and one-half did not know when the testing would start;

* Most insurers do not expect to begin external testing until 2013; and

* About half of surveyed vendors were less than halfway through with their product development.

WEDI's letter to CMS with survey results is available here. Registration is required.