There’s no doubt – ICD-10 is huge.  The ICD-10 transition is one of the largest, most complex organizational projects many hospitals have ever faced.

Given the reported delays in preparation earlier in the year, we wanted to see for ourselves how ready the industry is for the transition. From mid-September into November, Phoenix Health Systems conducted an online ICD-10 preparedness survey of hospitals across the country.

We received 101 responses that represent a broad cross-section of the hospital industry, plus 11 non-hospital providers. 

In line with trends observed throughout 2013, our results show that, in general, the larger the hospital, the more progress they have made towards the conversion from ICD-9 coding to ICD-10.

Even though the largest providers have made the most progress, over half believe that they are less than halfway to compliance, and almost 40% have just started their implementation. In smaller hospitals, a large majority (63%) believe they have completed less than 20% of the work required. Of the smallest hospitals, half have not completed their initial assessments, let alone planned their implementation projects,

With about nine months left to meet the ICD-10 deadline, and even less time before many hospitals must begin their measurement periods for Meaningful Use / MIPS, the challenges to IT staff, physicians, and other stakeholders in both projects will only increase.

While our survey results provide a sobering picture, there are some bright spots. Many hospitals seem to be optimistic about meeting the deadline, and several of the challenges our respondents report, can be addressed with some education and planning.

Get access to the full report here and let us know your thoughts about the results in our comments section.