1. Study reveals nearly half of physicians’ offices may not be ready for ICD-10

With the Oct. 1 deadline of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10) looming, a study of physicians’ offices found nearly half aren’t ready for the transition.

Several issues are affecting readiness. These include:

• A lack of understanding on return on investment for the physician community
• Having out-of-date software. If software is not up-to-date, physicians can’t submit codes or test systems
• Uncertainty about the deadline. Many physicians questioned whether the Oct. 1 date is set in stone or if it will be delayed, since it has been delayed three times already

If a physician’s office isn’t ready for ICD-10, rejected codes could have a financial impact, delaying cash flow, Medscape says.

However, 90% of hospitals report they are ready for the transition. Read more at Medscape for resource to get ready...

Source: Medscape

2. How will your hospital or office rate? Yelp users can now review hospitals and clinics

Popular review site Yelp has partnered with ProPublica to provide information on hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Data will be updated quarterly.

Consumers have always been able to review healthcare facilities using Yelp’s star system, but now additional data such as hospital ER wait times, quality of doctor/patient communications, level of noise and more has been added to reviews.

Source: The Washington Post

3. A new set of clinical practice guidelines addresses temperature management in open heart surgery

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology have released a new set of guidelines designed to address patient temperature management during open heart surgery.

The new set of clinical practice guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations including:

• The optimal site for recording temperature
• Avoiding overwarming
• The greatest cooling rate and temperature gradient
• The greatest rewarming rate and temperature gradient

Source: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons