Switch glitches starting already

With just under a month to go till the switch, problems are already becoming evident.

First, a study shows that over half of healthcare organizations are not ready for the switch.  Two-thirds of respondents were small physician practices with 1-10 doctors.  Worse, the report (warning: PDF) notes that 94% of respondents are concerned that the switch will increase their claims denial rate, meaning they will suffer cash flow issues as a result.

Second, the Medicaid programs of four states have announced that they will not be switching on October 1st, the date that healthcare provider organizations are required to switch.  Instead, they'll take incoming ICD-10 codes and convert them back to ICD-9, an approach that experts note is likely to cause numerous issues with accurate and timely payments.

The states involved are not all small ones with few providers, either.  They are California (most populous US state), Louisiana, Maryland, and Montana.

Worse still, some commercial health insurance companies might be doing the same thing.  But if they are, they have not made that information public, which is even more concerning.

We fully anticipate many more, and many worse, glitches as the switch date approaches and passes.  We'll note them here, unless of course, the nation finally wakes up and stops the switch.