CMS: No more delays to ICD-10 implementation deadline

(HealthDay)—There will be no more delays to the Oct. 1, 2014, deadline for implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), according to an article published Feb. 27 in Medical Economics.

The article notes that, while addressing a range of topics, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner emphasized that the ICD-10 would not be delayed further, despite the petition earlier this year from the American Medical Association.

CMS began installing and testing system changes to support ICD-10 in 2011, and as of October 2013, the CMS services systems were ready. According to the article, a Medicare testing period is being conducted from March 3 to March 7 to allow providers, billing companies, and clearing houses to determine whether their claims will be accepted under ICD-10. Furthermore, in order to assess the government's payment system, CMS plans to recruit 500 volunteers to participate in end-to-end testing of more than 25,000 test claims in March.

"Let's face it, we have delayed this more than once, and it is time to move on," said Tavenner, according to the Medical Economics article. "We have already delayed the adoption standard, a standard the rest of the world has adopted many years ago, and we have delayed it several times, most recently last year. There will be no change in the deadline for ICD-10."

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