Senate Passes SGR Patch, ICD-10 Delay

Many health care providers have pooled an immense amount of resources and training into preparing for the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline for ICD-10 implementation, including medical imagingpractices. The new code set, which will nearly triple the number of diagnostic codes available to physicians, has been a hot button issue in the industry for many months.

Some organizations, such as the American Health Information Management Association,opposed the idea of an ICD-10 delay as it would mean continued reliance on the outdated ICD-9 codes. Despite the opposition, within one week the House of Representatives – and the Senate – OK’d the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, which provided a temporary fix to the Medicare payment system and extended the ICD-10 compliance deadline into Oct. 2015.

The provisions of the legislation were largely seen as a mix of good and bad, as many industry leaders felt the pay rate for physicians with Medicare patients needed to be amended. However, some were not happy with the ICD-10 delay being included with the sustainable growth rate bill.

“This idea of bundling a ‘bad thing’ with a ‘good thing’ in a bill that is sure to pass because of the ‘good thing’ is sort of crazy,” said healthcare technology consultant Steve Sisko, quoted by HealthcareITNews.

Senators passed the bill by a vote of 64 to 35, and it now moves on to President Barack Obama’s desk in the Oval Office. He has 10 days to sign the bill into law.

How this affects providers
With the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ ICD-10 implementation deadline pushed back to Oct. 1, 2015, providers will be affected differently depending on their overall readiness. For some, the extra breathing room is a relief, as some training procedures and technology upgrades were proving to be costly. However, others were spurred along by the impending deadline and might feel disappointed by the extension, such as physicians indiagnostic radiology.

“Further delay of ICD-10 discredits the considerable investment made by stakeholders across the country to modernize healthcare delivery. Providers have already dedicated significant time and resources in financing, training and implementing the necessary changes to workflow and clinical documentation. Any disruption to the ICD-10 transition at this stage would be detrimental,” CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell said, quoted by EHRIntelligence.

Organizations that were heavily invested in the transition must now reassess the potential financial impact a delay can have on their resources. After funneling much of their staffs’ focus on ICD-10, there could be productivity issues as providers have to continue to dedicate time and effort to testing and training exercises.

According to EHRIntelligence, one of the biggest questions that remains is: How will the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services respond to the unexpected delay? As recently as February of this year, the CMS had a strong stance against any notion of an extension to ICD-10, estimating that doing so could potentially cost nearly $6.6 billion.

At this point, the agency’s timelines and coding resources will have to be revamped to accommodate for the extra year. While providers who are on track will know what efforts they need to make to meet the new 2015 deadline, those who were lagging behind might find the changes helpful to their training.

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