President signs H.R. 4032 into law, ICD-10 delayed until at least 10/1/2015

President Obama signed the so-called ‘doc fix’ bill, Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 into law on April 1, 2014.  Included in this bill was a last minute provision that delayed the implementation of ICD-10 from 10/1/2014 to at least 10/1/15. Reactions from both sides of the ICD-10 debate have been mixed:

“We are extremely disappointed by today’s vote. We understand the considerable hours, resources, and money CHIME members and their organizations have spent preparing for the transition. This pause in momentum discredits the significant work our industry has spent training staff, conducting testing, and converting systems; not to mention the hold on improving care quality and accuracy, advancing clinical reporting and research, and patient safety outcomes.”  – Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, President and CEO

“Implementation of the ICD-10 code set will be delayed at least one year, based on a provision in a federal law signed Tuesday that will prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from implementing the new code set before Oct. 1, 2015.The delay gives physicians a much-needed extra year to prepare for implementation of the costly code set, which is developed by the World Health Organization and adapted for U.S. use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.” – American Medical Association

On behalf of our more than 72,000 members who have prepared for ICD-10 in good faith, AHIMAwill seek immediate clarification on a number of technical issues such as the exact length of the delay, said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. Since the transition to ICD-10 remains inevitable and time-sensitive because of the potential risk to public health and the need to track, identify and analyze new clinical services and treatments available for patients, AHIMA will continue to help lend technical assistance and training to stakeholders as they are forced to navigate the challenge of continuing to prepare for ICD-10 while still using ICD-9.” –American Health Information Management Association

Florida Chiropractic Conferences will continue to monitor the ICD-10 situation and its impact on Chiropractors. Check back here for updates or subscribe via the links on the right to stay up to date with the latest.