KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 1, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerner (Nasdaq:CERN) announces it has been selected by WellPoint, Inc., the second largest health benefits company in the United States, to join forces on a project to test ICD-10 business continuity. As a selected electronic medical records (EMR) and Revenue Management supplier, Cerner will conduct thorough ICD-9 to ICD-10 end to end testing with WellPoint for a select set of clients.
The ICD-10 transition can significantly impact the overall revenue of health care organizations. The goal of the project is to prove that the end to end process will work within all the systems.
"Early testing with natively coded ICD-10 claims provided insights into legitimate shifts in reimbursement with certain methodologies, changes in behavior of system / business rules, and changes to analytics," said Ian Bonnet, Vice President with WellPoint, which serves approximately 36 million people through their affiliated health plans and approximately 67 million people through subsidiaries.
"Cerner's footprint in clinical systems and revenue cycle support made them a natural choice for collaborating on ICD-10 testing and we're excited about the insights both organizations and our shared stakeholders will receive," said Ian Bonnet.
"Participating in this project will allow us to test our integrated clinical and financial systems prior to the ICD-10 transition to ensure we're ready to support our clients through the event," said Rick Heise, Cerner vice president and executive sponsor of the project. "With an estimated 40-50% reduction in coding productivity being predicted, our clients need to know they can count on the workflow of Cerner systems involved in physician documentation, medical coding, billing and interface to communicate with, their clearinghouses and payers."
In order to test for business continuity, the project will run through the following steps to assure that end to end processes work within the systems of all stakeholders:
- Health care providers chosen to be part of the pilot will select cases that have been submitted and paid coded in ICD-9.
- The providers will then re-code the cases in ICD-10.
- Cerner will be able to take that information through its systems, out through a clearinghouse and to WellPoint the payer and back to Cerner through a report containing 835 data.
- Cerner® solutions involved in testing will include Financial Hub, Patient Accounting and all systems involved in medical coding, billing and interface to clearinghouses.
Providers are currently being selected and the testing process should begin towards the end of 2013.
About WellPoint
At WellPoint, we believe there is an important connection between our members' health and well-being—and the value we bring our customers and shareholders. So each day we work to improve the health of our members and their communities. And, we can make a real difference since we have more than 36 million people in our affiliated health plans, and nearly 67 million people served through our subsidiaries. As an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service areas, WellPoint's plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as UniCare and in certain markets through our Amerigroup and CareMore subsidiaries. Our 1-800 CONTACTS, Inc. subsidiary offers customers online sales of contact lenses, eyeglasses and other ocular products. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.
About Cerner
Cerner is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we've learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.
Cerner® solutions are licensed by approximately 10,000 facilities around the world, including more than 2,700 hospitals; 4,150 physician practices; 45,000 physicians; 550 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, behavioral health centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 45 employer sites and 1,750 retail pharmacies.
Certain trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the "Marks") set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. All other non-Cerner Marks are the property of their respective owners. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.