No More Delays In ICD-10 Implementation

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Tavenner announces no delays to ICD-10 roll-out at HIMSS

There will be no further delays in the Oct. 1 compliance deadline for ICD-10 implementation, according to ModernHealthcare.com . That means that providers, payers, and claims clearinghouses must get their ducks in a row and be ready. However, there will be some case-by-case exemptions for providers having a tough time meeting their Stage 2 Meaningful Use targets, Marilyn Tavenner, head of the CMS, stated.

“There are no more delays and the system will go live on Oct. 1,” she said during her keynote address at the HIMSS Conference in Orlando. “Let's face it guys, we've delayed this several times and it's time to move on.”

There will be also be no delays in the compliance dates for Stage 2, Tavenner said, despite the heavy lobbying to hold up ICD-10 implementation dates and to make the MU measures more flexible. The original starting date for Stage 2 was Oct. 1, 2013 for all eligible hospitals. Only two starting dates remain in the program, which operates on a fiscal year, for those hospitals to commence 90 consecutive days of meeting the meaningful-use criteria: April 1 and July 1, 2014.

Those physicians and other eligible professionals whose EHR incentive programs operate on the calendar year have a bit more flexibility and may opt to begin their 90 day programs on one of three dates—the first days of April, July and October.

Stage 2 of the electronic health-record incentive payment program requires providers to electronically exchange healthcare records with others. Tavenner explained that in Stage 2, “interoperability is a key step to everything going forward,” particularly CMS' value-based payment programs.

Despite public responses, Tavenner argued that CMS has been sensitive to providers' concerns, pointing to previous delays for Stage 2 and Stage 3 implementation dates. “Now is the time for us to start moving forward,” she said.

Tavenner did acknowledged that some providers and health IT vendors may have legitimate issues, challenges with timely delivery and certification of software, loss of EHR vendors, or other situations that might hamper compliance with Stage 2. In those cases, Tavenner explained, the CMS would entertain case-by-case applications for “hardship exemptions.” Still, even with the exemptions, CMS is holding to its 2014 deadline for Stage 2 implementation for all other providers, with a 2015 deadline for those given hardship exemptions.