Precyse and HealthStream Partner to Deliver Robust ICD-10 Education Program

WAYNE, Pa., ALPHARETTA, Ga. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Precyse, a leader in health information management (HIM) services and technologies, and HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM), a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry, announce their partnership to deliver a comprehensive ICD-10 education program for providers in healthcare. This unique program offered through Precyse University and delivered through HealthStream's learning platform, the HealthStream Learning Center®, is designed to prepare coders, physicians, nurses, case managers, administrative staff, and all other impacted populations for the eventual transition to ICD-10.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110502/PH92856LOGO )

ICD-10 implementation will challenge healthcare organizations to rethink their current information flow. It represents significant changes for every aspect of healthcare -- affecting systems, procedures, and workflow across the entire healthcare enterprise. Underscoring the need for successful preparations to help reduce the adverse cost impact, estimates on ICD-10 costs and benefits have indicated that key segments of the healthcare industry will face significant expenditures of anywhere between $6 to nearly $14 billion during a two- to three- year implementation period(1). Additionally, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, during roughly the first six months after implementation, error rates may rise to 6%-10%, compared with the typical 3% error rate that occurs for a few months each year with the annual ICD-9 updates(2).

Preparing for the ICD-10 transition will require widespread education that goes beyond just the medical coder population. In response to this need, Precyse and HealthStream have partnered to provide the comprehensive education and training program that will be required. Specific Precyse University learning tracks have been developed for each of the more than 50 identified populations in the healthcare industry that will be impacted by ICD-10. The program has been designed by the most expert medical coders and trainers, clinicians, and HIM professionals in the industry. Students are educated on the foundation and guidelines in ICD-10, as well as the necessary medical terminology and anatomy and physiology that ICD-10 requires to assign very specific diagnosis and procedure codes for medical services that are rendered to patients.

"Preparing for and transitioning to ICD-10 is yet another example of the tremendous changes and challenges that have been placed on the healthcare industry," said Chris Powell, President, Precyse. "We believe that the most progressive organizations will view ICD-10 as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage -- not just to be able to bill appropriately, but to use the data in new ways. At Precyse, we have built exciting services and solutions to help customers transform this requirement into an advantage. To further this goal, we are excited to partner with HealthStream to deliver critical ICD-10 education to their customers."

"HealthStream recognized the crucial need for ICD-10 preparation, and Precyse was our first choice when it came to selecting an educational partner for this important purpose," said Kevin P. O'Hara, Senior Vice President, HealthStream. We are excited about partnering with them to offer our hospital customers the opportunity to be well prepared for ICD-10."

Equipped with more than 250 coders and hundreds of HIM and clinical professionals on staff, Precyse has a track record of developing tried and true educational content to keep its team of experts consistently meeting or exceeding industry accuracy and timeliness benchmarking standards. Precyse has used this same approach for building its ICD-10 education content. The Precyse ICD-10 education content is available online through Precyse University or the HealthStream Learning Center®.

Tom Ormondroyd, Vice President, Education and Consulting Services at Precyse explained, "Precyse and HealthStream are the ideal combination to meet the challenge of educating healthcare providers on ICD-10. Precyse University has expansive and one-of-a-kind content on ICD-10, and HealthStream has the nation's most adopted online learning platform across hospitals and healthcare systems. Together, we are creating and offering the most powerful and unique ICD-10 education program available."

(1) Robert E. Nolan Management Consulting Company, "Replacing ICD-9 CM with ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS, Challenges, Estimated Costs and Benefits," Prepared for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, October 2003.

(2) Department of Health and Human Services, August 22, 2008, 45 CFR Parts 160 and 162, HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Modification to Medical Data Code Set Standards to Adopt ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS Proposed Rules. Federal Register Volume 73, Number 164.  

About HealthStream

HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM) is a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the healthcare industry, transforming insight into action to deliver outcomes-based results for healthcare organizations. Through HealthStream's learning solutions -- which have been contracted by over 2.5 million hospital-based healthcare professionals -- healthcare organizations create safer environments for patients, increase clinical competencies of their workforces, and facilitate the rapid transfer of the latest knowledge and technologies. Through our research products, executives from healthcare organizations gain valuable insight about patients' experiences, workforce challenges, physician relations, and community perceptions of their services. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, HealthStream has an additional office in Baltimore, Maryland. For more information about HealthStream's learning and research solutions, visit www.healthstream.com or call us at 800-933-9293.

About Precyse

Precyse provides industry leading expert services and comprehensive technologies that empower healthcare organizations to most effectively and efficiently capture, organize, secure and analyze clinical data and transform it into actionable information, supporting the delivery of quality patient care and optimizing operating performance. Precyse has enabled more than 850 hospitals and health systems nationwide to improve efficiency and deliver tangible outcomes for more than a decade. With products ranging from an integrated transcription and coding platform with advanced speech recognition, expert workflow technologies and Natural Language Comprehension™ to HIM consulting and services, Precyse's flexible software can be delivered standalone or complemented by a professional staff of more than 1,200 experts. Now more than ever, hospitals and health systems are challenged to achieve meaningful use of the legal health record. Precyse is the partner hospitals across the country choose to achieve this goal. To learn more, visit www.precyse.com.  

Sparking innovation in healthcare information™

Media Contact:
Beth Emmert, Precyse
610-688-2464 x305
[email protected]

SOURCE Precyse