December 2009

Building Organizational Awareness – Your Communication Plan

By Mary Jane McCracken, RN

You probably already know that ICD-9 will be converting to ICD-10 on October 1, 2013. But what you may not know is that a critical component of your organization’s success will be building organizational awareness and creating a communication plan that will help convey the “call to action” for all departments and employees involved in the transition process.

So what exactly is a communication plan and why should you have one? A communication plan is a formal, specifically designed and managed process to help an organization achieve its goals. Its purpose is to convey a message and to influence a behavior for change. 

There are a number of steps for you to consider when building organizational awareness. The first is to identify the stakeholders that should be involved in your ICD-10 transition. This includes all members of the transition team, executive teams, outside vendors, and business and clinical departments. If you have a corporate communications department, elicit their help with the communication planning and dissemination of information. Remember that communication is a social process based on openness, sharing, and participation.

Think about how you will communicate to all the different stakeholders. What is the best way to get your message across to people in different departments or settings? Do they respond best to specific communication techniques? You should consider using multiple techniques to meet different needs and by doing so you will reinforce the message. Try using teleconferences, face-to-face reporting/updating, or develop an email distribution list to communicate. You can even designate an area on your intranet for ICD-10 information and updates.

Physicians can sometimes be a hard group to reach. You know they’re busy but if you could post ICD-10 updates where they spend a majority of their time you’ll have better luck getting the message across. Using catchy posters or developing a newsletter that contains information specifically for the physician and his practice is more likely to get attention than a generic ICD-10 poster or newsletter.

If you need help getting started with your own communication plan there are many free resources on the internet that can help.  You can find a sample communication plan at www.communicationideas.com. Here are some basic principles of effective communication found on their website:

• To be understood, communication must be grounded in the interests and language of the receiver – “How will it affect me?”

• To be noticed, communication must be compelling – Think “creative.” It must compete for attention and be continuous and consistent.
• To be influential, communication must be credible – Just the facts, the ICD-10 facts are hard enough so there’s no need to exaggerate.
• To be financially savvy – Target high dollar codes for intense training.

Remember communication is a two way process – listen for feedback.

By having a communication plan, you can easily uncover issues and concerns and address them in a timely matter. By explaining the reasons behind certain executive actions, you will gain understanding and support for the transition. Sharing information creates a culture of trust, shared values, and accessible knowledge throughout the organization. This in turn, facilitates faster action and higher performance.

This is the second in a series of three articles on transitioning to ICD-10. In our next article we’ll discuss ICD-10 Training and Education. If you have specific questions or comments regarding ICD-10 transition, please email Mary Jane at mjmccracken@clinical-insights.com.

Editor’s note: Mary Jane McCracken, RN is General Manager of Clinical-Insights.

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