PMI Announces ICD-10 TEAM Training

Approaching ICD-10 as a Team

We’ve had ICD-10 classes in our curriculum since 2009.  In the fall of 2013, with the initial deadline looming, participants were signing up in significant numbers.

During a trip to Dallas, following a series of ICD-10 beginner classes, I was struck by the attitude of participants signing in for the sessions.  The attitude was BAD.  I have never before experienced such a thing.  Coders and Billers were angry, frustrated, ready to retire, or change careers.  WOW!

I made it a point to come back at the end of the class to get a read on how the day went and make sure no one had slit their wrists.  To my relief, there was no blood on the floor…quite the opposite.  The class was laughing and cutting up, and you could tell there was a sense of relief.  WHAT?

I was able to hold the group back for a moment, and have a discussion about what happened between 9am and 4pm.  Almost without exception, each participant said the same thing.  This isn’t going to be that bad.  So much “grey” had been removed.  It will be much easier to “dial-in” the correct code.

BUT…Again, without exception, every coder realized through the process of learning ICD-10 and the DOCUMENTATION needed to support the new more “specific” code, their providers were not DOCUMENTING ICD-9 correctly.  YIKES!

I brought this information back to our management team and to the faculty meeting the next Monday.  We set out with a mission to gauge the Dallas audience to find out whether or not it was an anomaly.  It was NOT.

For the next several Mondays, faculty members who taught an ICD-10 class in the preceding week reported the same response from audiences.  We’ve always known documentation was an issue, but that wasn’t the surprise.  The surprise was that because of ICD-10 looming, the office had a real incentive to get it right.  Get it right in preparation for ICD-10, but also take advantage of getting it right currently for ICD-9.

With ICD-10 delayed till October 1, 2015, PMI has taken the past few weeks to fall back, re-group and prepare for how to move forward.

Moving Forward

ICD-10 is monumental shift for the Healthcare industry.  Even the statement doesn’t do it justice.  Seldom does a change like this impacts the ENTIRE Healthcare world.  Each and every entity within the healthcare sphere, must adopt the new language we all must speak.  We realize that for most practices, this is one of the bigger changes the business might have every gone through, hence the angst mentioned above.  Sadly, we have also ascertained from the very same audiences mentioned that most practices are relying on vendors to make it alright...HOLY SMOKES!

Since this change impacts the entire “Healthcare System” in the US, and because it certainly impacts everyone and every system within your practice, we’ve elected to create a program focused on getting YOUR TEAM ready for the transition.

The number ONE comment made on evaluation forms at the conclusion of a class is, "I wish my provider was here." Since our ICD-10 Training Classes began, we’ve only taught one job function at a time.  We’ve either focused on the coding or the management perspective.  Providers for the most part have been done in very short brief overview sessions. We realized it was essential to have the entire team present.

With the TEAM approach, we’ve created a class for the coder, the manager and the provider.  It is a way for individuals to understand each person’s role and responsibility in preparing for ICD-10 as well as work together to actively prepare a plan for implementation. I encourage you to visit the PMI Website to find out more about the ICD-10 Transition TEAM Training.

At the end of the day, our goal is to help you to gain the tools you need to:

Train together, implement together, and succeed together.

David

Thanks for following and sharing!