ICD-10 Delayed

In case you missed it last month, the legislation that fixed the Medicare physician payment formula, known as the Doc Fix, also contained a delay of implementing ICD-10 at least until sometime in 2015.  That legislation, reported on by IHCA and AHCA (click here), also contained language to develop a Value Based Purchasing program in Medicare for SNFs.  The ICD-10 delay is causing a good deal of confusion as providers and insurers across the nation were training and preparing for implementation this  year.  The collective health care industry awaits further guidance from CMS on when the 2015 implementation deadline will be, whether organizations that are ready to implement may do so voluntarily, and will ICD-10 be skipped altogether and wait for 2017 to roll around when ICD-11 is to be released. Stay tuned!