Dive Brief:
- In a letter to Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for CMS, the American Health Information Management Association is asking HHS to officially announce October 1, 2015 as the new deadline for ICD-10 implementation as soon as it can.
- The letter, which is cosigned by a group known as the Coalition for ICD-10, argues that a new compliance date must be issued quickly to help maintain the momentum providers already have in preparing.
- In addition to AHIMA, organizations signing the coalition letter included Advanced Medical Technology Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, American Medical Informatics Association, BlueCross BlueShield Association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Health IT Now Coalition, Medical Device Manufacturers Association and 3M Health Information Systems.
Dive Insight:
As we've reported on before, more than half of those polled in a recent survey said they were disappointed that the ICD-10 deadline had been reset. Therefore, it's not surprising to hear that health IT groups are standing up and demanding a firm ICD-10 deadline. However, they have to wait on CMS, which may not pick a date before October 1, 2015, and could theoretically go beyond that date if it chooses. In the meantime, providers are in limbo.