A coalition of groups, including the Medical Group Management Association, is seeking a delay in implementing new ICD-10 code sets for health care claims, arguing that HHS' proposed October 2011 deadline is unworkable and expensive, Health Data Management reports.
Health care providers currently use ICD-9 code sets for electronic health transactions, which were developed about 30 years ago and no longer can be expanded effectively to include codes for new diseases and procedures (iHealthBeat, 8/18).
The coalition cited a study by Nachimson Advisors that found that it would cost a 10-physician group practice $285,000 to transition to ICD-10 code sets. The study found that it would cost a three-physician practice $83,290 and a 100-physician practice more than $2.7 million to implement ICD-10 (Health Data Management, 10/14).
Nachimson Advisors' study is available online (.pdf).
CMS
At the American Health Information Community's annual conference this week, acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems said he plans to release final rules for ICD-10 this year after reviewing and addressing industry comments, Healthcare IT News reports.
Weems said most industry stakeholders seem to be in favor of the transition to ICD-10 codes. However, he noted that the upcoming change in administration could affect whether the new rules take effect as planned or are delayed (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 10/15).