With fewer than four months until the ICD-10 compliance deadline, CIOs and their IT staffs should be thinking about which software programs will best equip clinicians to learn and start using the new codes.

To that end, 3M Health Information Systems has updated its ICD-10 Code Translation Tool, in what is taking shape to become a wave of similar announcements from other big vendors that sell ICD-10 products or services.

3M’s cloud-based offering now includes Current Procedural Terminology and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes to translate ICD-9, CPT or HCPCS codes into ICD-10.

Beyond merely translating codes to ICD-10, hospitals can use the 3M software to "normalize reports, help educate staff, update processes," for the new code set, according to the company. Perhaps more importantly, that also means converting forms, policies, reimbursement contracts and reports into ICD-10.

As the clock ticks toward the October 1, 2105 compliance deadline, hospitals should expect a rush of new software, from big suites to smartphone apps, to come to market. 

In mid-April, for instance, Wolters Kluwer introduced a readiness package of services and software, based on its prior acquisition of Health Language, Inc. And on the startup end of the spectrum, an emerging company, ICD-10 Charts, posted a collection of free resources for translating codes and charts from ICD-9 to ICD-10.