The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed a one-year delay for ICD-10 implementation to Oct. 1, 2014, to give providers more time for training, testing, and other implementation activities.
Physicians already face a multitude of quality and health information technology requirements, some carrying penalties for noncompliance (e.g., ePrescribing). With all of these demands, many physicians were worried that the Oct. 1, 2013 deadline was not enough time to prepare for such a massive change that will increase the code set from about 15,000 to 69,000 codes.
The proposed rule also includes a plan to implement a unique health plan identifier under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to cut through some of the red tape and simplify administrative processes for health care providers. The federal government estimates this will save providers and plans up to $4.6 billion over 10 years.
Even with this proposed delay, physicians should still continue to prepare for ICD-10. The delay will allow for more robust testing and additional time to improve clinical documentation practices in preparation for the more specific and granular codes associated with ICD-10.
PAMED members can tap a variety of resources to help with the transition, including a webinar straight from a payer on how to prevent claim denials and issues with reimbursement and answers to the most frequently asked questions.
If you are a PAMED member and have additional questions, contact our Division of Practice Economics and Payer Relations, at (800) 228-7823, ext. 2644.