[February 25, 2013]

Statewide ICD-10 Collaborative Launches in California

A statewide consortium of California healthcare providers and payers have formed the California ICD-10 Collaborative to increase efficiencies and significantly reduce implementation time and costs associated with ICD-10 compliance. Benefits of converting to the ICD-10 coding system by October 2014 as required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) include increased specificity in clinical information that can lead to more accurate and timely reimbursements.

As part of its launch, the Collaborative is holding an educational webinar for current members and non-members on February 27, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The webinar will include an introduction and overview of the Collaborative and updates from three core workgroups: testing, education and training, and communications and outreach. California stakeholders may register for the membership community and informational webinar at www.CAICD-10.org.

"The transition to ICD-10 will have a major effect on operations and revenue streams," said Catherine Mesnik, finance director, St. Joseph Health, and California ICD-10 Collaborative co-chair. "Participating in the Collaborative will help stakeholders navigate their implementation and testing processes while reducing costs, which is particularly important for smaler, under-resourced providers."

Some members of the Collaborative Steering Committee also participate in the HIMSS/WEDI national pilot program and will address and align national and California ICD-10 implementation goals. Through its various workgroups, the Collaborative aims to strengthen communications and outreach to community members; maximize coding, reimbursement and compliance efforts; reduce overall testing and cost burdens of implementation; and develop and share best practices that ultimately improve healthcare delivery and patient care.

The Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) has been engaged to help facilitate the California ICD-10 Collaborative. "The Collaborative is an excellent forum for health plans and providers to align and test their ICD-10 implementation efforts which ultimately improves healthcare delivery and patient care," said Tom Williams, IHA president and chief executive officer.

About ICD-10

ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list that includes codes for all diagnoses, symptoms and procedures recorded with clinical care in the United States. The revision has more than 68,000 diagnostic codes compared to the 13,000 found in version ICD-9, includes twice as many categories, and introduces alphanumeric category classifications for the first time. In mid-2012, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced its final rule as part of the administrative simplification regulation under the health reform law which requires use of ICD-10 coding standards and extends the date comply to Oct. 1, 2014.

About California ICD-10 Collaborative (www.CAICD-10.org)

The California ICD-10 Collaborative brings healthcare stakeholders together to work collectively to ensure the successful integration and implementation of ICD-10 in California. Launched in early 2013, the Collaborative membership includes health plans, physician organizations, hospital and health systems, vendors and other stakeholders.

About the Integrated Healthcare Association (www.IHA.org)

IHA is a not-for-profit multi-stakeholder leadership group that promotes quality improvement, accountability and affordability of healthcare in California. IHA administers regional and statewide programs, serves as an incubator for pilot programs and projects, and actively convenes all healthcare parties for cross sector collaboration on healthcare topics.

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