According to a survey from Tampa, Fla.-based staffing solutions firm, Kforce Healthcare Solutions, more than 70 percent of healthcare professionals say the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed rule to move the compliance date to 2014 will not affect their decision to continue progress with ICD-10 planning and implementation efforts. The survey of more than 300 healthcare professionals explored ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition readiness.

In addition, the survey found 35 percent of healthcare professionals surveyed said their organizations already have an effective ICD-10 steering committee in place. The survey also found 60 percent of those surveyed believe that physician cooperation may be the biggest challenge of ICD-10 implementation.

"The CMS' proposed rule to modify the ICD-10 compliance date now allows healthcare facilities who have yet to focus on the ICD-10 transition to put more emphasis on planning for ICD-10 implementation," Keith Fulmer, Kforce Healthcare Solutions executive vice president, said in a statement. "Additionally, moving the ICD-10 compliance date to 2014 gives facilities the ability to spread the costs of ICD-10 planning over the next two fiscal years."

Kforce Healthcare Solutions and Quorum Health Resources (QHR) found that a 300-bed hospital was unsure of the full impact that the ICD-10 transition would have on its personnel, budget and systems in a recent ICD-10 readiness assessment. After completing the assessment, Kforce Healthcare Solutions and QHR discovered the ICD-10 transition would affect 16 IT systems and more than 700 employees at the hospital.