WICHITA, Kan., Oct. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pulse Systems, Inc., an industry-leading provider of Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management solutions, today announced it has launched a series of educational tools focused on ICD-10 readiness to guide healthcare providers through the required implementation of ICD-10. Pulse's ICD-10 readiness materials consist of live and on-demand webinars, a white paper titled "Forget the Fear and Panic: It's Time for a Sensible Approach to ICD-10 Implementation," a list of questions to ask your EHR vendor, Top 20 ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion charts by specialty, and ICD-10 specific Practice Management and EHR software demonstrations, all of which are available at no charge.
"ICD-10 implementation will play a significant role in electronic healthcare management and all healthcare providers must be prepared for it," said Jeff Burton, Pulse Systems' Chief Executive Officer. "Pulse is demystifying ICD-10 for our current and prospective clients. We are helping our clients focus on the transition, not the hype, and our certified, award winning EHR and Practice Management solutions deliver a seamless transition in advance of the ICD-10 deadline."
ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition) is a medical classification list that will affect documentation and coding for everyone covered by the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA). While there are many similarities between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM, such as a shared classification system and similar coding conventions, ICD-9 codes are mostly numeric, consisting of three to five digits, while ICD-10 codes are alphanumeric and contain three to seven characters. Most notable among the differences is ICD-10's overall greater specificity, which requires more detail in clinical documentation to support code selection. There are currently 14,000 ICD-9 codes, whereas the number of ICD-10 codes is approximately 69,000.
Burton went on to say, "While there are approximately 69,000 codes for ICD-10, it does not mean 69,000 codes for each medical specialty. Pulse is providing our current and prospective clients with a great education about ICD-10 and what it means to their particular specialty so they can make informed decisions and get prepared."
Pulse was the first health information technology company in the industry to link the importance of receiving the 2014 Certification to ICD-10. Pulse's Practice Management Solution, PulsePro, and Pulse's Complete EHR, version 4.2, will serve as the solution platform to help physician practices document and attest for Meaningful Use Stage 2, while migrating from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Pulse is also the first electronic healthcare management solutions company to show what ICD-10 actually looks like in EHR and Practice Management software.
Pulse already has its ICD-10 infrastructure in place with the Pulse Knowledge Engine, and Pulse anticipates that the ICD-10 compliant version of our Practice Management and EHR software will be released in pilot stages during the fourth quarter of 2013, followed by a beta testing time period during the first quarter of 2014, prior to a full roll-out beginning in the second quarter of 2014. All systems are expected to be compliant well within the quarter prior to the implementation deadline date published by CMS. The deadline for ICD-10 compliance is October 1, 2014.
For more information about Pulse, the ICD-10 readiness tools or to request an ICD-10 EHR or Practice Management software demonstration, please visit www.pulseinc.com. For a schedule of live webinar dates, visit http://www.pulseinc.com/the-latest/webinars-and-demos-on-demand.
About Pulse Systems, Inc:
Pulse provides certified, integrated electronic healthcare management systems to thousands of providers across more than 40 specialties nationwide. Pulse's award-winning, interoperable technology platform includes easy-to-use, cost-efficient EHR, Practice Management, ePrescribing and Revenue Cycle Management solutions. Pulse is committed to helping our physician partners gain greater work flow efficiencies, reduce costs and achieve Meaningful Use incentives; all supported by our best-in-class client support, training and implementation services.
Pulse is part of the Cegedim Healthcare Software division, owned and operated by Cegedim, a global healthcare technology company. To learn more or to request a demonstration of Pulse's solutions, please visit us at www.pulseinc.com or call 1.800.444.0882, option 3.
About Cegedim:
Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specializing in the healthcare field. Cegedim supplies services, technological tools, specialized software, data flow management services and databases. Its offerings are targeted notably at healthcare industries, life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and insurance companies. The world leader in life sciences CRM, Cegedim is also one of the leading suppliers of strategic healthcare industry data. Cegedim employs 8,100 people in more than 80 countries and generated revenue of €922 million in 2012. Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM).
To learn more, please visit: www.cegedim.com