A Lisa Selman-Holman blog
Just a reminder that the comment period on potentially delaying ICD-10 from Oct. 1, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2014, closes May 17 at 5pm EDT.
See the proposed rule.
Get your comments in:
Electronically by following the ‘‘Submit a comment’’ instructions on the Regulations.gov
By regular mail:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS–0040–P
P.O. Box 8013
Baltimore, MD 21244–8013
Despite what you may have read, ICD-10-CM is NOT delayed until October 1, 2014!!
CMS proposed to move the implementation date to October 1, 2014. The healthcare industry has the opportunity to comment on the proposal and THEN CMS can publish a final rule.
CMS estimates that a delay in implementation will cost health care entities, including state Medicaid systems, $1 billion to $6.5 billion.
There are certain to be numerous comments both for the delay and for implementation as was required in the 2009 final rule. Only time will tell.
HHS is proposing a rule to delay ICD-10 implementation until Oct. 1, 2014.
The new date is part of a proposed rule that would adopt a standard for a unique health plan identifier (HPID), adopt a data element that would serve as an “other entity” identifier (OEID), and add a National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirement.
Here is the press release.
The proposed rule is CMS-0040-P and you can see it at the Federal Registrar website.
A survey of senior healthcare professionals shows that a one-year ICD-10 would be “costly, but manageable,” but a two-year delay could be “catastrophic.”
Data exchange group Edifecs polled the professionals, the majority of whom also said that the delay will do nothing to improve readiness for the implementation, but could hinder other healthcare reform efforts.
“Costs are likely to spiral higher, and valuable resources may be lost as the industry waits for the outcome of CMS’ process to determine whether the deadline will slide,” the survey states.
Don’t you think its funny that the webpage notices are titled “ICD-10-CM is coming Oct 1, 2013″ with byline “It’s closer than it seems” followed by “HHS Announces Intent to Delay ICD-10-CM”?
So what’s my theory on why CMS “intends” to delay implementation? I have a couple.
First, physicians are raising a big ruckus about ICD-10. I can understand why when Medicare cuts their payment by 27% and then requires compliance with something this huge. So is CMS listening? I think it boils down to it’s an election year and, lo and behold, President Obama decides to reduce regulatory burden by delaying a regulation that has been finalized since 2009. My opinion is that continuing to use an antiquated system like ICD-9-CM increases regulatory burden. Health plans, hospital systems and other payors and providers, including HHS, have spent millions of dollars readying for ICD-10-CM. A delay now will increase the money spent and the time spent.
Second, the United States has long been behind the rest of the world in coding. A friend told me once that the folks at the World Health Organization (WHO) make fun of us because we are so far behind. Those nations now using ICD-10 are getting ready for a move to ICD-11 October 1, 2015. Does that date seem familiar? Just maybe we are going to switch gears, skip ICD-10-CM and we’ll keep up with the rest of the world with ICD-11-CM in our near future, i.e., Oct 1, 2015.
Comment period on potential ICD-10 delay is now open
You can read the proposed rule to delay ICD-10 until Oct. 1, 2014.
CMS has released a fact sheet outlining the proposed rule.
The comment period closes at 5pm ET on May 17.
To submit comments:
The 30-day comment period for this rule is an important way to provide feedback to HHS about the proposed ICD-10 compliance date change. You can submit comments in the following ways:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS–0040–P
P.O. Box 8013
Baltimore, MD 21244–8013
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