63% coding accuracy in ICD-10 test raises concerns over readiness.

Many of the warnings we’ve been voicing over the past six months were validated this week when HIMSS released the results of a test focused on the performance of ICD-10 coders. A National Pilot Program was launched as an industry-wide effort to help provide guidance in the transition to ICD-10. The findings were somewhat discouraging — participating coders achieved an accuracy rate of 63%. That is a D -. More details on the results can be found here.

This research supports the need for more training and preparation. As we’re nearing the deadline, it is vital that providers speed up their preparations or a lot of money and time will be lost.

EHR vendors appear to be behind in Stage 2 Meaningful Use / MIPS requirements.

A recent review in Modern Healthcare found that as of September 25, only 79 companies, providers, and healthcare organizations had certified EHR systems for use by health care providers under Stage 2 Meaningful Use / MIPS requirements. To provide some context, there were 988 developers of health IT systems that were tested and certified for Stage 1 of the program. This disparity is staggering.

Hospitals demonstrating two years of Meaningful Use / MIPS of an EHR under Stage 1 requirements are required to begin Stage 2 of the program this month. The limited number of certified EHRs will likely pose a problem for those providers attempting to initiate their Stage 2 efforts. Details about the vendor challenges can be found in the article on iHealthBeat.

How will this impact Stage 2 progress and incentive reimbursements? Will there be an extension for Stage 2? According to the next article we’re featuring, it doesn’t appear that we’ll know for a while.

Stage 2 extension won’t be determined until Spring of 2014

If an extension to Meaningful Use / MIPS Stage 2 is provided, it will not be announced until well into next year. At the inaugural Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS) Fall Symposium in Boston, industry leaders called for an extension to Stage 2.

John Glaser, the former CIO of Partners Healthcare and senior advisor to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee calling for a delay to Stage 2. The policy makers’ response, featured in a recent article on Healthcare Informatics, was that if any extension was to be made, it would not be determined until Spring of 2014.

Examining healthcare IT across the globe.

Leaders at the World Health Organization recently made statements, calling attention to the importance of international health IT. There is still a lot to discover about best practices for integrating digital health systems and it is necessary that everyone, across the globe, share their experience, successes, and failures. In a piece on Healthcare IT News, representatives of the WHO discuss the challenges for developing IT infrastructure and highlight projects around the world.