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SNOMED was so important to healthcare's switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 medical coding, ONC Chief Farzad Mostashari, MD says, that he was willing to support the one-year delay to achieve the necessary crosswalks. This system of nomenclature can lay the groundwork and foundation for much better, more granular clinical documentation, he said.
The former CMS administrator and Harvard professor explained that even Massachusetts healthcare system is "not going to be sustainable without major changes and improvements," and that will be part of his political platform.
Speakers at the ICD-10 Forum on Monday said that now is the time to start the transition, including practicing with ICD-10 codes.
A longtime proponent of evidence-based medicine, Donald Berwick, MD, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, believes his home state's healthcare system can be a "model for the nation."
If there was an overarching theme at the HIMSS Media/Healthcare IT News ICD-10 Forum on June 17, it was this: Don't wait to get your house in order for ICD-10. Though the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline for the transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 is more than a year away, most of that time will be required for getting ready, experts warn.
ONC has a real understanding of the importance of consumer engagement, the head of the ONC's Office of Consumer eHealth, says. When ONC was originally created and even when HITECH passed, there was a lot of emphasis on providers and hospitals. But it's only in more recent years that it's become more generally understood that patients and consumers play a critical role, too.
Lygeia Ricciardi, Office of Consumer e-Health director, on public understanding of personal health information, healthcare consumer empowerment, and her experience with mobile maternity health.
The national coordinator, speaking at HIMSS ICD-10 Forum, said that because "there's a lot of money to be made in helping doctors get ready" for the new code sets, expressed faith that the free market will offer solutions and services to make the transition easier.
Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national coordinator for healthcare IT, asserted today there would be no extension of the deadline for switching from the ICD-9 medical coding system to ICD-10. The deadline for conversion would remain Oct. 1, 2014, Mostashari said in a keynote delivered this morning at the HIMSS Media ICD-10 Forum in National Harbor, Md.
There's a commonly held perception that healthcare is a process in which doctors take care of patients. But increasingly healthcare stakeholders are figuring out that, at times, a more effective way to help patients get healthy is to show them how to take care of themselves.