OMG-10 Part 1: Looking at the Numbers

on July 12th, 2012   by IOD Incorporated

After years of whittling, HIM departments are very lean – there is little excess capacity or resiliency. In fact, since 2000 national inpatient volume has increased 34% – has your coding staff?

In that same time, coder productivity has dropped about 25% – from an average of four charts per hour in 2000 to about three charts per hour in 2009.  We are doing more work – a lot of it not related to actual coding.

Available data on Canadian productivity impact from ICD-10 conversion shows significant coder productivity reductions – initially, picture losing half of your coders and after a year still 1/5 reduced. If we replicate the Canadian experience, we’re toast! Even without PCS, their productivity was cut in half for months and after nine months was still 20% lower.

If we replicate the Canadian experience DNFB will quickly increase by a factor of five to ten and stay there. Once a coding backlog forms, it remains or grows until additional resources are applied to reduce it.  How many days do you have to get behind before trouble starts?   Now imagine it’s five times that…

Stay tuned for Part 2: Considering Your Options