Tom Sullivan
Pushing off testing is only one of the unintended consequences triggered by delaying ICD-10. Organizations now have to reassess the project and redefine their requirements, and many will have to find resources to do that.
Industry observers and insiders alike were a bit surprised that the American Medical Association did not appear overjoyed with the prospect of ICD-10 being pushed back. But, the organization had its reasons.
Perhaps if the Senate had voted down the doc pay patch, regrouped, come back with another stab at permanent SGR repeal, someone would have noticed Section 212 saying that HHS cannot mandate ICD-10 as the standard code set before Oct. 1, 2014, in effect delaying the deadline by another year.
The U.S. Senate voted to pass the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, which both pushes back the compliance deadline for ICD-10 and preserves the pay rate for doctors treating Medicare patients. Before those officially take hold, however, President Barack Obama has to sign the bill into law.
ICD-10 has been the butt of countless jokes during the last several months but none so surprising as the latest one-liner. Only this isn't funny. Whether you're hoping President Obama gets a chance to sign the provision pushing ICD-10 back within the SGR fix into law, or crossing fingers that the Senate kills it come Monday, no matter.
In the morning, the U.S. House postponed the vote on delaying ICD-10 to 2015 and on a temporary fix to how doctors are paid, but by afternoon, House members came back around and voted to pass the bill. It now goes to the Senate.
Under the guise of the already contentious SGR fix, Congress is girding to vote on a bill Thursday that would delay ICD-10. AHIMA has written a letter, urging Congress to stay the course to the Oct. 1 deadline.
HIMSS Board Chair and Partners HealthCare deputy CIO Scott MacLean on Monday revealed a new collaboration between the Continua Health Alliance, HIMSS and the mHealth Summit.
A CMIO predicts a blackout period, followed by stages of stability, before the real changes even kick in come October 2015. That's right: 2015.
Wouldn't it be advantageous to determine what opportunities ICD-10 will present and what risks can be mitigated today?