By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    An Expert’s Guide To Building and Improving Endurance
    June 30, 2022
    medical assistants
    What Do Medical Assistants Do On a Day to Day Basis?
    April 5, 2022
    superfoods to help with prostate health
    10 Healthy Foods That Can Help Protect Your Prostate
    August 29, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare cost crisis
    What If the Health Care Cost Crisis Solves Itself?
    May 11, 2013
    Do You Need Life Insurance? What Does It Cover?
    December 23, 2022
    HIE metal plans
    The Four “Metal Plans” of Health Insurance Exchanges
    May 28, 2013
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: M&A Activity and Hospital Priorities Seek a Groove as ICD-10 Looms
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > M&A Activity and Hospital Priorities Seek a Groove as ICD-10 Looms
eHealth

M&A Activity and Hospital Priorities Seek a Groove as ICD-10 Looms

Chris Hoffman
Chris Hoffman
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

While the deadline for ICD-10 implementation is not until October 2013, the new clinical documentation code set expands over 8x from 24,000 to > 200,000 and with enterprise-wide effects will be one of the most impactful mandates in the history of medical coding.

While the deadline for ICD-10 implementation is not until October 2013, the new clinical documentation code set expands over 8x from 24,000 to > 200,000 and with enterprise-wide effects will be one of the most impactful mandates in the history of medical coding.

According to studies from HIMSS and AHIMA, the majority of provider organizations are lagging in their ICD-10 preparedness. Emdeon also mentioned in their Q1 earnings release that their hospital customers have only recently started to focus on remediating their systems in anticipation of ICD-10.

More Read

Online hospital appointments
The Online Hospital Appointment Process: Insights and Numbers
How to Get Some Love from Pinterest’s New Smart Feed
8 Reasons Why mHealth Is Beneficial For Patients Of The Future
Are Healthcare Consumers at the Forefront of Digital Health?
Text Alert System Lets Patients Skip the Waiting Room

Under the ICD-10 environment, hospitals will quickly find that their current levels of physician documentation will not support the new mandates, which could pose risks to reimbursement rates. Our significant work in healthcare IT and compliance are underscoring the importance of hospitals aligning now with their physicians so that improved documentation protocols can ease the pain of transitioning to ICD-10.

M&A activity in healthcare IT has been robust as my colleague Seth Kneller illustrated in a recent post.  The clinical documentation space in particular was invigorated with the recent announcement of two notable deals:

  • Nuance Communications acquired Webmedx:  Both Nuance and Webmedx offer transcription services with speech recognition capabilities and natural language processing (NLP) technology. Webmedx proprietary data mining technology, QualityAnalytics™ will enhance Nuance’s clinical language understanding which will allow more clinically intelligent speech-driven conversion of clinical information.
  • MedQuist acquires M*Modal:  Medquist, a leader in integrated clinical documentation solutions, advanced its opportunity to penetrate the transcription market segment with the acquisition of M*Modal’s advanced speech and natural language processing technologies. M*Modal reported an annual revenue run rate of $24m, and with TEV on the deal reported at $130m, a healthy 5.2x revenue multiple bodes well for the sector.

These two trades are indicative of the market’s anticipation of an increasing focus on clinical documentation due both to meaningful use requirements as well as the likely needs under ICD-10. To the defense of hospital administrators who have seemingly ignored ICD-10 to-date, the funding demands associated with health reform present tremendous challenges; and these executives likely have a few other priorities competing with ICD-10 conversions in their queue including:

  • EHR and Meaningful Use:  While providers are focusing on EHR templates and spending millions meeting meaningful use guidelines, they would be well served to incorporate ICD-10 into these projects in order to enable documentation now with the specificity necessary for the future.
  • HIPAA 5010 compliance:  With a deadline of January 2012, crunch time is approaching to meet (yet another) new transaction standard associated with the HIPAA 5010 upgrade (which relates to increased transaction uniformity, pay for performance support, and streamlined reimbursement).   AHIMA published a Top 10 list for phase two of ICD-10 preparation which includes step-by-step processes designed to encourage organizations to prepare for ICD-10 in parallel to the migration to 5010.

U.S. hospitals are busy toeing the line on a range of mandates, and if not addressed in parallel with more pressing needs, ICD-10 will by pushed to the bottom of most priority lists.

We believe the most successful provider organizations (e.g. hospitals) will optimize reimbursement levels under ICD-10 and their core business processes around the revenue cycle.  As this occurs jointly all boats will rise – enabling higher levels of reimbursement, analytics, quality, efficiency and coordination of healthcare.

Let us know what you think.

Emma Daugherty

Emma Daugherty is a Senior Analyst at TripleTree covering the life sciences sector with a focus on provider technologies and patient safety.  You can contact her at edaugherty@triple-tree.com.

TAGGED:EHRHITICD-10medical codes
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

technology in medical research
The Tools Helping Medical Researchers See the Full Picture
News Technology
August 3, 2025
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025

You Might also Like

Are Decision Support Tools Turning Doctors into Idiots?

April 20, 2011

CAP Template Providing Too Much Information?

September 30, 2014
eHealthTechnology

Health And Fitness Apps: Know The Untold Benefits

May 12, 2019

Value of Rural Hospitals

June 21, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?