AAPC Pleased with Health and Human Services’ Final Rule on ICD-10 Implementation Date

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has finalized and approved the ruling on implementation dates for ICD-10-CM. In quick summary, the ruling requires the implementation of X12 standard, version 5010 electronic filing standards by Jan. 1, 2012, and ICD-10-CM code set by Oct. 1, 2013. The original proposed ruling from HHS was for both 5010 standards and the ICD-10-CM code set to be required on October 1, 2011; thus in the final ruling, the implementation of 5010 standards was moved back by three months and ICD-10-CM codes moved back by two years. ICD-10-CM is a new code set with approximately 68,000 codes and will replace the 13,000 ICD-9-CM codes currently in use.

The efforts of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and its members, by providing comments to the initially proposed ruling requesting a delay of two to three years, made a significant impact on the final ruling. The AAPC believes the final announcement allows providers, payors and coders time to properly prepare for this significant code set change.

"Since the original proposal was announced last August, AAPC held firm in its stance that the original proposal of an Oct. 1, 2011 implementation date would pose serious issues and hardships across the health care industry," said Reed E. Pew, CEO and president of AAPC. "AAPC is very pleased with the final rule. We believe this delay is a victory for providers, payers and coders and allows for a more efficient transition, giving the proper amount of time to implement system and coding changes without impacting the daily operations of practices, facilities and payers.”

AAPC plans to post a more detailed report on Jan. 16 on the announcement on its Web site.

Source: American Academy of Professional Coders