ICD-10 Implementation: Getting Your Physicians on Board

Are your physicians on board with your ICD-10 transition? Why should they be? Isn't that why they hired medical coders? Unfortunately, the transition can affect every aspect of your practice. But it's going to be hard to persuade your physicians that's the case.

"The most delicate changes will be those affecting physicians. HIM directors must have medical staff participation and buy-in from the very start," writes Katie Carolan, vice president at Health Records Services, in the February issue of the Journal of AHIMA. "Physician-based systems will need to be evaluated, and physicians will require some level of training."

The Christiana Care Health System in Delaware tackled the issue by putting a physician in charge of their ICD-10 steering committee, according to Chris Dimick's look at how three healthcare organizations are handling Phase 1 of ICD-10 implementation.