On April 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law the “Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014,” which requires the delay of ICD-10 for at least one year. Specifically, the bill states that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot adopt the ICD-10 code set as the standard until at least October 1. 2015. (The health care industry had been preparing to make the switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 on October 1, 2014.)
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), which is recognized as the leading source of health information management knowledge, is actively seeking clarification on a number of issues related to this new development, and is urging that implementation of ICD-10 be postponed no longer than October 1, 2015. Until more is known, AHIMA is encouraging health care organizations to continue with preparations for transitioning from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
CHOC’s ICD-10 team, comprised of representatives from many departments, is continuing to move forward with preparation activities. A comprehensive review of the program has been conducted and very few deliverables have been put on hold due to the momentum and volume of readiness-related activities. As a program deliverable for the month of April, an organization-wide scorecard (containing key performance indicators for each work stream) has been created and will be delivered monthly to all associates and physicians.
If you have any questions related to CHOC’s ICD-10 program, please contact Jason Fischer, director, business applications and revenue cycle, at 714-509-4728.
