Can ICD-10 Finally Be Happening?
There's some movement on the ICD-10 front. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed replacing ICD-9 codes with ICD-10 codes by October 2011.
According to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, "We are taking a giant step forward toward developing a health care system that focuses on quality and affordability through the implementation of health information technology. The greatly expanded ICD-10 code sets will enable HHS to fully support quality reporting, pay-for-performance, bio-surveillance, and other critical activities."
Leavitt called the conversion "essential" to developing a nationwide electronic health information network. The HHS press release also states that the ICD-10 codes will help with the implementation of EHRs and will provide added granularity, which will aid in identifying specific health conditions.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Kerry Weems called this "the right time" to move to ICD-10, and added that CMS will work with the health care system to make sure that the transition to ICD-10 is a smooth one.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has advocated in the past for the use of ICD-10. AHIMA CEO Linda Kloss commented that "We are excited to see that HHS has taken this significant step forward, but now we must see a positive response to the [notice of proposed rule making] so that final rules can quickly be issued and the health care industry can finally get implementation started."
More information on the proposed rule can be found here. The comment period for the proposed rule ends at 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 21.