The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is seeking experts to serve on work groups that will offer guidance on updating quality measures to align with ICD-10 code sets, according to according to a notice published Monday in the Federal Register, Health Data Management reports (Goedert, Health Data Management, 6/1).
Background
U.S. health care organizations are working to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets to accommodate codes for new diseases and procedures. The switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 code sets means that health care providers and insurers will have to change out about 14,000 codes for about 69,000 codes.
In April, HHS announced that it would delay the deadline for complying with ICD-10 standards by one year, to Oct. 1, 2014. HHS said it decided to push back the compliance date partly in response to health care providers' concerns that they would not be able to meet the initial deadline (iHealthBeat, 5/22).
About the Work Groups
AHRQ said it plans to form approximately 10 work groups to evaluate existing quality measures and determine what changes need to be made to align the measures with ICD-10 code sets. The groups each will have at least six members.
AHRQ said it will choose members based on their expertise in:
- Chart abstraction and coding;
- Clinical areas covered in the quality measure sets; and
- Quality improvement practices.
Timeline
The deadline for nominations is June 29, and candidates will be notified of their selection by July 13.
Work group members will be expected to carry out their duties between late July and the end of October, according to AHRQ (McKinney, Modern Physician, 6/1).