News: CMS nixes ICD-10 end-to-end testing

The announcement that ICD-10 would be delayed once again made waves throughout the healthcare industry. In the wake of the passing of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, which spurred the delay, CMS released a statement announcing that it canceled ICD-10 end-to-end testing.

CMS originally scheduled ICD-10 end-to-end testing for July 21–25. A sample group of providers would have participated in the testing, which was slated to involve Medicare Administrative Contractors and the Common Electronic Data Interchange contractor.

In September 2012, CMS entered into a one-year contract with National Government Services to develop a process and methodology for testing Administrative Simplification Requirements, beginning with ICD-10 testing. In June 2013, CMS stated it would not conduct end-to-end testing but some months later decided to conduct front-end testing in March 2014. 

However, just before conducting front-end testing for ICD-10, CMS announced its plans to begin ICD-10 end-to-end testing this summer. Since 2014 end-to-end testing was cancelled, opportunities to participate in end-to-end testing are expected to become available in 2015, according to CMS.

Editor’s Note: This article first published in HIM-HIPAA Insider.