HHS proposes to push back ICD-10 -- a billing system unpopular with docs

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would push back for one year the compliance deadline for doctors to convert to the ICD-10 revision of diagnostic and procedural codes. 

The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog: ICD-10 Likely To Be Pushed Back A Year
It's official – the Obama administration is proposing to push back by a year the deadline for a new medical-coding standard that was originally set to go into effect on October 1, 2013 (Mathews, 4/9).

The Hill: HHS Delays New Billing System Unpopular With Doctors
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday formally delayed new billing rules that doctors have criticized as overly complicated. HHS gave doctors an extra year to begin using a new set of codes when billing insurance companies for their services. The new system, known as ICD-10, adds a slew of new codes to describe specific treatments. For example, there are separate codes for "walked into lamppost, initial encounter" and "walked into lamppost, subsequent encounter" (Baker, 4/9).

Modern Healthcare: HHS Proposes Delaying ICD-10 Deadline To Oct. 1, 2014
A proposed rule from HHS pushes back by one year the compliance deadline for conversion to the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision of diagnostic and procedural codes to Oct. 1, 2014. The rollback of the ICD-10 deadline was telegraphed by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in February. ... Also announced Monday, nearly 16 years after passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HHS has issued a proposed rule pursuant to a HIPAA mandate that all health insurance plans be numerically tagged with a unique health plan identifier (Conn, 4/9).

MedPage Today: HHS Anounces ICD-10 Delay
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a 1-year delay in its deadline for implementing the new ICD-10 diagnosis coding system. In a fact sheet announcing a proposed rule that sets a deadline of Oct. 1, 2014 to comply with the ICD-10 system, HHS noted that "some provider groups have expressed serious concerns about their ability to meet the October 1, 2013 compliance date." Their concerns were partly based on difficulties with implementing a new standardized health claims form, known as Version 5010, for electronic health transactions. Providers need to implement Version 5010 before they can start using ICD-10 (Frieden, 4/9).