ICD-10 Survey Shows Relatively Minor Productivity, Accuracy Decreases

ICD-10 implementation was always expected to result in a drop in coding productivity and accuracy, but the impact has been much lower than anticipated, according to a recent white paper from the AHIMA Foundation.

Overall, 156 coding professionals reported a 14.15% decrease in productivity and only a 0.65% decrease in accuracy since implementation. Some respondents even reported increases in those categories: 5.8% noted an increase in productivity and 11.5% saw an increase in accuracy. Surprisingly, many remained unaffected, with 26.3% reporting no change in productivity and 61.5% reporting no change in accuracy.

Setting played in a role in respondent answers, with coders at outpatient facilities reporting a 22.1% and 10.58% decrease in productivity and accuracy, respectively. Inpatient coders reported decreases of 24.3% and 13.25% in those same categories, likely due to the massive differences between ICD-9-CM, Volume 3, and ICD-10-PCS.

The study found that providers who experienced productivity hits immediately after implementation had returned closer to pre-ICD-10 levels over time, but called for further studies to determine whether providers return to ICD-9-CM levels or exceed them.

The results match other surveys performed both soon after implementation and more recently—while productivity often decreased for providers, it was typically less than anticipated. Providers should be encouraged by the results, as they face nearly 6,000 new and revised codes, as well as the requirement for physicians to report more specific codes, on October 1.