Dive Brief:
- CMS estimates that that the one-year delay of ICD-10 could cost between $1 billion and $6.6 billion, according to a blog post by the American Health Information Management Association.
- On the other hand, financial analyst firm Fitch Ratings told Modern Healthcare that a longer transition time is a plus for hospitals, even though many were on track for the Oct.1 deadline.
- Fitch warns that while a wide range of providers have made the necessary investments to be ready for the new code set, government and commercial payers might not have been ready to process claims in a timely manner.
Dive Insight:
As Healthcare Dive covered this week, there's a wide range of opinions in play as to whether the ICD-10 delay is good or bad for various health system stakeholders. But when it comes to health care finance, an intermediary like Fitch has more dog in the fight. Fitch's prediction that having more time will be a benefit for hospitals seems reasonable, as it gives them the time to amass the capital they need—both human capital and cash—to truly support the ICD-10 rollout. When the dust finally settles, it seems that hospitals who play this right will come out ahead.