2.  What the delay of 5010 says about ICD-10. 

Sisko:

It gave the AMA a boost and nothing more. The HIPAA 5010 three-month delay sparked some interesting discussions in regard to its impact on ICD-10. According to Sisko, “the fact that CMS delayed 5010 for three months blew a little optimistic wind into the AMA’s sails.” He added, “It’s a sensitive subject with the AMA, and the funny thing is, the AMA only represents a quarter of the decisions,” Sisko said. “I don’t blame them if I was forced to do something and I wasn’t getting paid for it initially or directly, I’d balk too.” The question Sisko posed, though, is why so late in the game? “I think that this thing with the 5010 being delayed probably bolsters their opinion…it did make them more optimistic, and I think the timing of their position relative to the CMS delaying 5010 was dumb luck because they knew more and the whole timing-is-everything concept.”

ICD10 Watch group participant Judy Monestime agreed. She wrote the industry is already at risk with 5010 compliance. “During a presentation…to a local professional organization, I asked how many people have completed the ICD-10 Impact Assessment at their organization,” she wrote. “Only two out of the 40 plus audience members raised their hands…many in the audience believed that the go live data of Oct. 1, 2013 will be pushed back, however, CMS representatives have constantly said the deadline isn’t changing, and really too many good reasons exist for the switch.” Twitter user @MedGrpAdvisors agreed with Sikso and Monestime. “#HIPPA #5010 grace period doesn’t let #physician practices off the hook,” they tweeted. “#ICD10 preparation should still be in progress.”

[See also: ICD-10 stirs controversy among payers.]

Tennant:

It shows the US is too far behind in 5010 to think about ICD-10. “I’ll liken 5010 to a grain of sand where ICD-10 is a beach,” said Tennant. “It’s difficult and challenging, but it’s dwarfed with the difficulties associated with moving to ICD-10.” The fact that providers have struggled to get their billing and practice management systems updated, along with the fact the industry as a whole is behind in that area, doesn’t bode well for the change to ICD-10, he said, “because ICD-10 is all of what 5010 is in terms of the software upgrade, and then, it’s much more complicated in terms of the impact on the clinical and administrative side of the practice."

He added the AMA vote was indeed an indication that the landscape of 5010 and ICD-10 has changed. “But I’d say that you have to look at the broader environment in which physician practices operate in an enormous number of IT and other types of mandates,” he said. “There’s also the various IT incentive programs that are morphing into penalty programs. You’ve got the challenge of meeting meaningful use and updating technology to meet the requirements of the program as well.” 

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