AMA fights implementation of ICD-10 - and it might be working

On Jan. 17, the American Medical Association sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner protesting the Oct. 13, 2013, implementation deadline for ICD-10. Their arguments are numerous and persuading. Rather than reiterate them here, you can read the letter yourself here: http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/icd-10-john-boehner-letter-17jan2012.pdf.

On Feb. 2, the AMA followed up its letter to the speaker with a letter to Kathleen Sibelius, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reiterating the same points and arguing for a delay in implementing ICD-10. You can read the letter here: http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/washington/icd-10-comment-letter-02feb2012.pdf.

Do you think these letters made any difference? Maybe.

On Feb. 13, Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a speech at the AMA’s Advocacy Conference in Washington, pledged that the agency will re-examine the pace of ICD-10 implementation. This could indicate that CMS might be backing off on its long-established Oct. 1, 2013, compliance date for ICD-10.

Then, on Feb. 16, Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement saying, "HHS will initiate a process to postpone the date by which certain health care entities have to comply with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10).”

I'll be working on getting more details on this and post a blog as soon as I know more.