At 1:30 Eastern today a Capitol Hill Briefing will be held to discuss the pending implementation of ICD-10. The briefing will be led by the Coalition for ICD-10 and will bring physicians and other stakeholders to the table to look at implementation efforts to date and hear why the October 1, 2015 transition date is supported by the healthcare community. Yesterday Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released statements on the new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on ICD-10. The GAO report shows confidence that CMS is prepared to implement ICD-10 by the Oct.1 deadline.
In the January report to the Finance Committee, GAO says CMS has prepared for the transition by:
- Completing ICD-10 changes necessary for its Medicare fee-for-service claims processing systems
- Engaging in outreach to providers
- Tracking stakeholders’ readiness
- Monitoring state agencies’ preparedness for the transition
- Offering technical support to state Medicaid agencies
- Producing educational materials
Preparation and readiness factors aside, cost was also cited in the report for a reason not to delay ICD-10 again. CMS has estimated that an additional one-year delay would increase costs to providers and payers by as much as $6 billion. In addition, last year’s delay cost both Medicare and Medicaid millions.
“As demonstrated by this report, the provider outreach and responsiveness to stakeholder concerns from CMS have kept the agency on track to upgrade to the next level of healthcare coding,” said Hatch. “While additional testing will be needed to ensure its success, the transition to the new system will streamline the management of healthcare records and improve patient care. I will continue to keep a close eye on this issue but see no reason for any delay past the October deadline.”
“ICD-10 codes will provide more specific information about patients, which will allow payers to more accurately reimburse providers and improve the quality of care provided to patients. CMS has taken unprecedented actions to help providers prepare for this change. We will continue to monitor the testing CMS is conducting as we near the October 1 implementation date.” said Wyden.
At the Senate Finance Committee’s request, GAO will continue to monitor CMS’ ICD-10 preparations and testing efforts.
Read the full GAO report, CMS’s Efforts to Prepare for the New Version of the Disease and Procedure Codes.