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As we talk to many attendees at the HIMSS 2012 show about their strategies for meeting the ICD-10 October 2013 deadline, the American Medical Association continues its efforts to delay or stop the implementation altogether.
A letter which was recently sent by AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James Madara to House Speaker John Boehner outlined the view of the AMA that the timing of implementation “could not be worse.” It goes on to cite that many physicians are currently implementing electronic health records in their practices and that physicians are also facing present and future financial penalties if they do not successfully participate in multiple Medicare programs underway today. These include the e-prescribing, Meaningful Use and Physician Quality Reporting programs. According to Madara, ICD-10 implementation will increase billing codes by six fold and could cost a single practice anywhere from $83,290 to $2.7 million.
Although the arguments outlined in this letter have been made before the timing suggests a new strategy. If the GOP attains the White House in this election year, Republicans will seek to overturn Health Care Reform. The ICD-10 implementation date is currently October 2013 which is after the new President will take office. If that new President is a Republican the AMA could and will likely argue that the new administration lifts this requirement for physicians who care for Medicare patients.
However, major investments by physicians and hospitals in ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversions are currently well underway. Additionally, the broad view remains that the ICD-9 code set is outdated and the benefits of ICD-10 clearly outweigh the costs. The AMA may be making a last attempt to avoid the inevitable.
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Sadly, the HHS has already announced the intent to delay ICD-10 so even the October 1, 2013 deadline is moot. The Affordable Care Act is not what mandated ICD-10-CM in the first place, that was HIPAA. I’m not sure a Republican administration could be more amenable to the AMA than the current Democratic one already has been. However, as you note, the reality is iCD-9 is used up. It is impossible to not implement ICD-10 at some point.