News: US Senator favors ICD-10 delay; AHIMA outlines its arguments against postponement

CDI Strategies - Volume 6, Issue 12

US Senator Tom Coburn, MD, (R-OK) suggests Congress hold committee hearings regarding ICD-10 implementation to evaluate its cost/benefit analysis in a position paper titled “ICD-10 Implementation Date: Better Never than Later?” published on his website, May 29.  

“HHS made the right decision to delay ICD-10 by one year. However, the department should not stop there,” the paper states. “What is a better implementation date for ICD-10? Never—or at least not until other systemic steps are taken to reduce administrative burdens, lower costs, and improve quality.”
 
Meanwhile, the June edition of the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) outlines arguments it sent to HSS during the comment period, stating that “No delay is preferable–but if there is a delay, it should be ‘limited and final.’”
 
AHIMA states that “setting back the compliance date ignores both the efforts of the healthcare industry and the ability to use the much-improved data code sets.”
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