AAPC sends letter to HHS Secretary
- By Brad Ericson
- In AAPC In The News
- September 4, 2014
- 4 Comments
After the testimony of Rhonda Buckholtz, CPC, CPMA, CPC-I, AAPC’s Vice President of ICD-10 Education and Training, among others at the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) meeting in June of this year, Jason VandenAkker, CEO of AAPC, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. The letter requests that AAPC be included as a Cooperating Party on the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee. The Cooperating Parties are responsible to develop the Official Guidelines for coding and reporting of ICD-10 in the United States and currently include: the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
Brad Ericson
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I’m in agreement, as coders, we know the grassroots of coding. And with experts in all fields present, the committee would be a comprehensive group.
I am in agreement that AAPC MUST be included as a Cooperating Party on the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee. It is essentail that the Professional (Physician) side of coding also have a voice and AAPC is that voice.
I agree. It seems outrageous to me that only the hospital coding associations were included in this committee from the beginning. I am not sure of the exact percentage of claims are hospital/facility-based vs. professional/private physician, but the professional physician has clearly been left out in regards to a voice in this committee, which in itself speaks volumes.
I agree, but am mystified that this wasn’t addressed sooner.