Eli's Hospice Insider
Don't Delay In ICD-10 Preparation
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Health care providers are claiming victory on the ICD-10 implementation schedule, but that shouldn't prevent you from planning for the transition already. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services extended the ICD-10 deadline by two years to Oct. 1, 2013, and providers and their coders are thrilled. The delay from the proposed 2011 deadline "is a victory for medicine," says the Tennessee Medical Association in a typical response."Everyone will have more time to become trained in the use of ICD-10 and make any intra-office systems changes necessary for implementation of this unfunded mandate," TMA says in a release. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice had called for CMS to delay ICD-10 until at least 2012, the trade group notes. Not everyone is happy with the change, though. The American Health Information Management Association "was sorry to see the compliance deadline extended to ... 2013," the group says. "This further extension means more years without the data needed to make intelligent data-driven decisions related to all aspects of healthcare." Get going: "This extra time gives the industry no excuse for an adequate implementation and compliance," AHIMA says. "The extra time should be used wisely and the industry needs to start now and not wait." The year 2013 may seem far away, but billing and coding expert Steve Verno advises providers to begin preparing for ICD-10 now. "Contact your software vendors to find out when updates will be available," Verno says. NAHC urges CMS to begin educating providers on the new system right away. Resource: Check out CMS' ICD-10 Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/ICD10.
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