AHIMA to HHS: Clarify ICD-10 start date

Language in the last minute SGR patch, Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, mandated that ICD-10 be delayed for at least a year but did not specify an exact timeline.

Calling themselves the Coalition for ICD-10, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and several other organizations are urging the Department of Health and Human Services to officially declare Oct. 1, 2015 the start date for ICD-10 so healthcare organizations can properly prepare.

In a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, the coalition argued for the quickest transition possible to the new coding system. Specifically, they wrote that ICD-10 is critical for collecting information needed to implement healthcare delivery innovations such as patient-centered medical homes and value-based purchasing.

“ICD-10 will enable better patient care through better understanding of the value of new procedures, improved disease management and an improved ability to study and understand patient outcomes, yielding benefits to patients far beyond cost savings,” according to the letter.

“While the transition to ICD-10 remains inevitable, it is extraordinarily difficult for organizations to make the proper preparations and investments without knowing the implementation date,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA in a statement. “The announcement of the new implementation date will give the industry the clarity necessary to prepare in the most cost-effective, prudent and strategic way.”

In addition to AHIMA, the signatories for the letter included the Advanced Medical Technology Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Medical Informatics Association, BlueCross Blue Shield Association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Health IT Now Coalition, Medical Device Manufacturers Association and 3M Health Information Systems.