ICD-10 delay --I'm quoted in AIS Health
I was surprised --like many others-- that the latest temporary "doc fix" bill also delayed the implementation of ICD-10 coding for a year or more. Everyone I know had expected the real deadline to be October of this year. We were told as much by CMS leader Marilyn Tavenner in her keynote address at #HIMSS14 in late February:
"There are no more delays and the system will go live on October 1. Let's face it guys, we've delayed this several times and it's time to move on."
But she doesn't run Congress and they decided to do their own thing.AIS Health (Health Plans Are Not Happy After One-Year ICD-10 Delay Slipped Into 'Doc-Fix' Bill) asked me for my perspective on the delay:
David Williams, co-founder of the Health Business Group and MedPharma Partners consultancies and author of the Health Business blog, tells HPW that he thinks the consistent and public drumbeat of negative news that has come with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rollout has something to do with the congressional action on ICD-10. “I think it actually ties into the challenges of the implementation of the ACA….People are wary of sudden switchovers after seeing the various delays in mandates of the ACA.”
If I had been lobbying for a delay (I wasn't), I would have pointed to the disastrous launch of the federal --and some state-- insurance exchanges under ObamaCare and said we don't want to see something like that for ICD-10 in October, just before the elections. Delaying for a year or more will provide more time for testing, something the exchanges seemed to have skipped. I would also have pointed out that the administration has repeatedly pushed back deadlines, some at the last minute. That line of reasoning could have been persuasive to those on both sides of the aisle, and it's my guess that such logic was employed.Whoever paid their lobbyists to pursue this outcome must be pleased with their investment. I wonder if they'll try for a further extension next year. If so, they'll have to reveal themselves and face some strong counter lobbying by ICD-10 proponents, who won't be caught sleeping twice.photo credit: Chris Devers via photopin cc---By healthcare consultant David E. Williams of the Health Business Group