A computerized assisted coding system (CACS) is called upon to facilitate ICD-10 implementation, compensating for financial losses and a gap in staff competencies. Since ICD-10 codes have a complex nature, they might represent an obstacle to the efficient work of doctors and nurses (Allen, 2020). Thus, the need for comprehensive learning programs vanishes as numerous mechanical functions that otherwise would fall upon employees are delegated to the algorithm that assigns diagnosis codes.
In general, doctors will likely favorably meet the integration of the technology since it will take over most of the routine activities. Thus, doctors will be able to focus on more critical tasks and avoid learning additional skills. However, an issue of negligence of the results provided by the system might arise. This could threaten medical help’s adequacy since an algorithm operating subjective and sensitive data should not be expected to guarantee errorless functioning. Therefore, assistance by nurses or doctors would be needed in any case.
In other words, training would still be necessary to ensure a general understanding of the technology among staff members. Nonetheless, CACS still will vastly reduce the potential workload placed on doctors and nurses. Hence, clinical staff would need a shorter overview of the system to be able to navigate it. Meanwhile, it will hardly be possible to avoid thorough training for the traditional coders. Indeed, the speed of their operations is expected to increase, but the role of coders will likely change under the new system implementation. For example, they will probably significantly less review medical documentation since the system will do this task (Alllen, 2020). In other words, training the traditional coders is the main objective of the optimization strategy.
Reference
Allen, T. C. (2020). Computer-Assisted Coding: Post ICD-10 Implementation.