The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), a global, cause-based, not-for-profit organisation focused on better health through information technology (IT), has joined the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) and several other stakeholder organisations in pulling together a meeting to develop an industry action plan and roadmap for ICD-10 implementation in lieu of the ICD-10 delay that was included in the most recent physician payment fix enacted on April 1, 2014. The community that gathered at the Summit discussed their ideas on the steps that industry could take to continue to implement ICD-10, and what activities they should be undertaking with the delay underway.
One point of discussion that received overwhelming support at the Summit was the need to include a date certain for ICD-10 compliance in the roadmap being drafted. The plan to follow-up the meeting was to write a report with the concerns/suggestions that were raised at the Summit. That information will then be taken back to the WEDI Board to devise a plan forward.
In addition, specific action items will be developed to confirm the further steps needed to move forward with the key ICD-10 planning activities. Some of the planning activities identified include:
refine, enhance, and continue testing; redefine and establish budget forecasts for ICD-10 implementation; establish contingency plans for those that cannot achieve the recommended approach and dates; discuss how to get vendors involved with a certification program for ICD-10 compliance; define milestones for internal, initial, and end-to-end testing; and develop live pilot tests with results.
It is also important to note that on May 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it expects to release an interim final rule 'in the near future' that will include a new compliance date that would require the use of ICD-10, beginning October 1, 2015. The rule will also require Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 covered entities to continue to use ICD-9-CM through September 30, 2015.
On April 1, 2014, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) (PL 113-93) was enacted, which said that the Department of Health and Human Services may not adopt ICD-10 prior to October 1, 2015.
