Allocating resources, financial and otherwise, for ICD-10 is certain to be a complex, multi-layered and ongoing achievement. The range of software applications and personnel has garnered much attention thus far, but hardware will cost healthcare organizations, too – and that's not just servers.
The reason for putting hardware front and center in the budget for 2011, rather than 2012 or 2013, is that payers and providers likely will have to either upgrade or replace much hardware prior to updating relevant software applications to reach ICD-10 compliance by the October 1, 2013 deadline.
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A first step is to inventory all hardware systems that will need to be upgraded for ICD-10.
“Enterprises should budget to ensure they have adequate processing and storage capacity for live operations and testing,” says Veronica Hoy, a vice president at BPO and consulting firm Sourcecorp's HealthServe unit, and the author of the document Ten ICD-10 items to budget for in 2011 and beyond.
Consider hardware costs across five categories: software modifications that require hardware changes, production servers, testing servers, production workstations, and testing workstations, explains Tori Sullivan, a healthcare manager for Capgemini, in an article in The Journal of AHIMA. Healthcare organizations may also need other new hardware pieces, such as monitors, Sullivan adds.
Indeed, even the testing phases will requires healthcare organizations to buy new hardware.
“While one may not have the total processing capacity demands in the testing environment, such as fewer live users and fewer live transactions, that additional capacity could be added in 2013,” explains Hoy explains.
From the onset, Hoy recommends evaluating the current age of hardware, dual-processing capability for ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, storage capacity, processing power and transmission capability.
“Hardware is the foundation of the technology infrastructure for current regulatory requirements and will require a comprehensive plan to coordinate the various technology upgrades,” Sullivan adds. “These costs may not directly hit the HIM budget depending on the organization; however, they should be considered for the overall program budget.”
Beyond 2011, healthcare organizations should budget accordingly for software upgrades and support services contracts, training, communication. And along the way, Sullivan suggests directing contingency funds into a reserve for keeping the overall ICD-10 project on track in the event of unexpected or emergency costs.
Tom Sullivan blogs regularly at ICD10Watch.com.
