SOURCECORP® HealthSERVE Launches ICD-10 Support Offering for Healthcare Providers

DALLAS, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- SOURCECORP, Incorporated, a leading provider of business process outsourcing solutions and specialized high value consulting services, today announced the launch of a new service offering to support healthcare providers in their migration from ICD-9 to ICD-10.  

On October 1st, 2013, the U.S. healthcare system will transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 as the HIPAA mandated code update is set to begin. ICD (International Classifications of Diseases) codes are medical diagnosis and procedure codes used for billing and health insurance reimbursement, as well as statistical analysis, clinical, epidemiological and quality reporting.  These codes are not only used in the U.S., but are utilized around the world, although the U.S. is the last major country to migrate to ICD-10.  In the transition the number of codes moves from 13,000 to 68,000 diagnosis codes and from 3,000 to 87,000 procedure codes.  The code structure will also go from 3 – 5 numeric digit codes to 3 – 7 alphanumeric character codes adding to the complexity.  

"SOURCECORP HealthSERVE has supported healthcare providers for over 30 years.  We have over 500 active clients today representing small and very large hospitals, clinics and physician groups.  I believe our heritage and deep expertise in coding, auditing, training, consulting and process management within the provider community uniquely positions us to provide a complete continuum of services around ICD-10.  From planning, project management, education and training to documentation improvement, coding support and revenue integrity analysis, I believe we have the technology and the depth of expertise to help our customers achieve seamless migration to ICD-10," stated Ralph D. Burns, Division President for SOURCECORP HealthSERVE.  

"Conversion to ICD-10 is more than a coding and claims issue," stated Teri Stubbs, Director of Corporate Compliance at Jackson County Memorial Hospital in Altus, Oklahoma and incoming president of OkHIMA, "this conversion will effect all areas of the revenue cycle, not just coding. It impacts most of the departments within your facility and will demand significant technology changes from providers and their support infrastructure including IT vendors, ancillary service partners, external reporting entities and payors.  Facilities should begin now to assess the financial, operational, and technology aspects of this change. Many facilities will lack the resources to handle all of the issues which will arise, so starting early and selecting best in class partners is essential."  

Mary Wemhoff , HIM Director of University Physicians Healthcare Hospital in Tucson, Arizona adds, "Facilities will see productivity reductions, impacting areas that currently use ICD-9 codes including Coding Departments, Clinical Departments and Financial Services. There will be a transitional phase where we will need to operate with both code sets. The level of specificity in clinical documentation to appropriately apply ICD-10 codes will dramatically increase. It will be imperative for physicians, nurses and other medical staff to be trained and fully understand the new clinical documentation and coding requirements that will impact reimbursement."

SOURCECORP's ICD-10 offering is available immediately and is featured at the SOURCECORP HealthSERVE booth at the 82nd AHIMA Convention (American Health Information Management Association) currently going on in Orlando, Florida.

SOURCECORP, Incorporated provides business process outsourcing solutions and specialized high value consulting services to clients throughout the United States.  SOURCECORP focuses on business processes in information-intensive industries including healthcare, legal, commercial, financial services, government, and transportation & logistics.  SOURCECORP HealthSERVE focuses on the Healthcare Provider market segment.  Headquartered in Dallas, SOURCECORP serves clients throughout the United States through a network of locations in the U.S., Mexico, Philippines and India.

For more information about SOURCECORP's ICD-10 solutions visit our website at www.sourcecorp.com/icd10/      

SOURCE SOURCECORP