Survey Shows 70% Hospitals to Hire a CDI Consultant by 2015
In order to facilitate the transition to ICD-10 coding, majority of hospitals in the US have started hiring a Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) consultant. According to a survey conducted by Black Book, 70% of hospitals will be hiring a CDI consultant to ease transition to the new coding system by 2015.
Industry facts
| According to coding managers, there will be a 40% jump in ICD-10 jobs by 2015. |
| Demand for certified coders will increase to another 30-40% in 2015 once practices get a better idea of their coding needs. |
| As per the Black Book Survey, 24% of hospitals currently outsource their Clinical Documentation Improvement efforts. |
| Several large hospitals with CDI partners are experiencing significant revenue gains because of CDI consultants. |
Increasing Demand for CDI Consultants
The industry experts are of view that accuracy of clinical documentation needs to be improved if physicians want to improve the financial health of their practice. CDI is going to help providers decrease the number of medical coder queries, improve productivity and ensure clearer description of patients’ conditions in medical records.
With an effective CDI program in place, physicians will be able to supply the necessary information required by coders for ICD-10 codes. Black Book surveyed 650 hospitals for technology and physician leaders, and found that 88% of 200-plus bed hospitals with CDI program in place experienced financial gains of more than $1 million.
What is pushing the Need for Hiring CDI Consultants?
94% of hospitals and 81% of all the physicians are in final stages of implementing EHR system now. This has pushed the need to store and deliver transcribed medical records effectively. The demand for extensive medical documentation for insurance payment has also increased due to reimbursement reforms.
There is a strong need to bridge the gap between coding language and clinical language. As ICD-10 will bring an eight-fold increase in code, a new level of specificity will be required.
How Can a Certified ICD-10 Consultant Benefit Practices and Hospitals?
- A certified consultant will have a good understanding of ICD-10 coding structure and guidelines
- He / she will be able to train and develop an ICD-10 implementation team
- An expert consultant will understand forward and backward mapping, HIPAA 4010 and 5010 standards
- Hospitals and practices will need a certified consultant to lead the ICD-10 implementation project
Hospitals across the US are willing to spend millions of dollars in hiring consultants who can perform ICD-10 readiness audits. As the ICD-10 timeline gets shorter day by day; they want to be well-prepared to face the new coding system challenges in 2015.
MedicalBillersandCoders.com offers effective billing solutions to 42 specialties across all the states in the US. The company has a job board for coders and billers to find employment in healthcare organizations. Their job portal along with industry updates and newsletters can help them gain job assistance and relevant industry knowledge. MBC also offers an ICD-10 training guide for coders who are interested in gaining more knowledge about the transition.
