One of the conference's best-attended sessions occurred Monday afternoon-a panel discussion titled "ICD-10 Implementation: A Roadmap for Success." Caroline Piselli, RN, MBA, FACHE, of 3M Health Information Systems served as moderator for a group of speakers representing a diverse group of health systems and hospitals.

Calling ICD-10 "the new language of health care," Piselli predicted that the next 4 years of implementation will represent a turning point for health care and for HIM professionals in particular. "We have a huge opportunity before us-this is not just another coding update," she stressed.

The first speaker was Gail Garrett, RHIT, of HCA Healthcare, one of the largest health care systems in the world. Garrett described ICD-10 as a "massive undertaking-one for which we have to start planning now!"

To do this, Garrett spoke of her plans to incorporate a three-pronged approach to the transition-"People, Process and Technology." People referred to the implementation of a steering committee whose job would be to determine the right process-developing the right message, timing and audience through which to develop awareness of the impending transition. Technology, of course, involves determining suitable vendors and programs compatible with ICD-10.

Next to speak was Susan Belley, MEd, RHIA, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation-another large entity with approximately 35,000 total employees. For Belley, the challenge will be training such a large, yet decentralized coding staff (Cleveland Clinic has nine total hospitals plus a children's clinic.) A "first-pass" list-people who will need to be brought up to speed soonest, including HIM professional and ancillary coders-was developed, followed by identifying levels of knowledge needed for people from hospital administrators all the way to coders. Only at that point, said Belley, was she able to develop an actual educational curriculum and training plan.

Bernice von Saleski, RHIA, MAS, of Partners HealthCare in Boston discussed the requirements for an IT department in incorporating ICD-10-from organizational structure to project management to an assessment of staff availability. This led to what von Saleski referred to as "strategic advantage opportunities"-developing steering and oversight committees in the areas of Version 5010 and ICD-10 to determine other projects that, at the present time, are consuming IT resources. Lastly, von Saleski mentioned the importance of tracking vendor readiness-assuring new contracts will include ICD-10 compatibility, getting it in writing and having a contingency plan in the case of an unprepared vendor.

Next, Caroline Piselli discussed the importance of readiness in October 2013-finding ICD-9 codes and determining a strategy for a seamless integration of ICD-10 into a health care business. She then introduced Cindy Zak, RHIA, of Milford Hospital in Connecticut. Zak represented the small, independent community hospital and discussed the unique challenges of implementing ICD-10 into such an environment. Milford's approach, she said, was to hit on all their organizational integration "touch points" while accelerating the project to allow implementation throughout the hospital concurrently with other ongoing projects at the hospital.

"No matter the size of your organization, the key is to keep implementation simple," concluded Zak. "It requires a disciplined approach."