It’s the first day of summer and while many of us are finalizing plans for vacations, making summer reading lists and enjoying the outdoors — work and looming deadlines are likely imposing on our summer fun, especially those of us concerned with the implementation of ICD-10.

It appears the delay to transition to ICD-10 is causing concern among medical practice executives

MGMA (Medica Group Management Association) recently conducted a survey that revealed executives are worried about the costs, losses and required changes that will occur as a result of the conversion to ICD-10.

The study found that respondents indicated that they were “very concerned” about the overall cost of implementation, the clinical documentation changes and the loss of clinician productivity, and decreasing staff productivity.

The MGMA study also found that only 4.8 percent of more than 1,200 responding medical groups indicated that they had made “significant” progress in ICD-10 implementation. This is concerning, given that the deadline for implementation is October 1, 2014. The pressure is on.

The National Coordinator for Healthcare IT, Farzad Mostashari announced that there will be no ICD-10 deadline extensions

The deadline will remain intact. Now that it’s confirmed by both the ONC and CMS, providers will need to dig into the implementation process, which includes risk assessments, thorough internal and external testing, collaboration with business partners, and training for physicians and coders.

This is a lot of collaborative, time-consuming work and if your organization hasn’t started, you need to start today.

Eleven ways to make healthcare CIOs lives easier

Here on HITpoint, we talk a lot about the challenges healthcare CIOs face, because we experience those challenges firsthand in the field. We operate with the intention of making health IT employees lives easier which is why we loved this recent article on CIO.com.

Technology professionals in healthcare face an endless number of challenges including, but not limited to HIPAA privacy and security laws, government mandates to implement or update Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology and, an industry built on paper records. This article addresses current issues CIOs are facing and how to set your organization up for success while making life easier.

Six legal tips to achieve HIPAA compliance

There is less than three months until the Omnibus HIPAA compliance deadline is upon us. While you’re likely in the midst of preparations, we found an article that provides recommendations and considerations to keep in mind. They include:

• Don’t forget the 2009 HITECH Act
• Review the enhanced breach notification requirements
• Understand the increased business associate liability
• Recognize HHS’ enhanced authority
• Note the extension of GINA requirements
• Mark your calendar for September 23

In addition to these six tips, we came across a great Infographic that illustrates the importance of patient privacy.

This post is a part of our HITpoint Curator series. The series highlights relevant and timely news in the healthcare IT industry. Have suggestions or recommendations? Let us know!