Surgery News - February 2009 - (Page 5) FEBRUARY 2009 • SURGERY NEWS THE THE E difficult for physicians to engage in quality improvement efforts. The ACS comments also stressed the importance of providing fully automated “crosswalks” that map ICD-9 to ICD10, and vice versa, to allow payers, vendors, and other relevant parties to test their systems and minimize breaks in historical data. The final rule acknowledges the significance of the crosswalks and indicates that CMS intends to discuss their further development. The Medical Group Management Association is calling on the federal government to develop some type of implementation assistance program to help physicians, especially those in small practices and rural communities, said Robert Tennant, senior policy adviser at MGMA. HHS also should extend its outreach to the vendor community, Mr. Tennant said, since they will be the ones to provide updates to the practice manage- 5 ICD-10 Transition Set for 2013 B Y M A RY E L L E N S C H N E I D E R 20/20 / 0/20 Else vier Global Medical Ne ws V SION O SIO SION IO I n less than 5 years, physicians and other health care providers will be required to begin using a new system of code sets to report health care diagnoses and procedures. Under a final rule published in the Federal Register in January, the Health and Human Services department is replacing the International Classification of Disease, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) code sets now used with significantly expanded ICD-10 code sets. Providers and health plans will have until Oct. 1, 2013, to implement the new code sets. A final rule adopting new standards for electronic health care transactions requires health care providers to come into compliance with the updated X12 standard, Version 5010, which includes updated standards for claims, remittance advice, eligibility inquiries, referral authorization, and other administrative transactions. Use of the updated standard is necessary to use the ICD-10 code sets, according to HHS. Providers and health plans are required to be in compliance with the updated transaction standard by Jan. 1, 2012. At press time, the Obama administration was in the process of reviewing and approving all new and pending regulations written under the previous administration, including the ICD-10 rules. A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that until the review is complete, it is not possible to determine which regulations are affected. The ICD-9-CM contains about 17,000 codes, compared with 155,000 codes in the ICD-10 code sets. “These regulations will move the nation toward a more efficient, quality-focused health care system by helping accelerate the widespread adoption of health information technology,” Mike Leavitt, HHS Secretary, said in a statement. “The greatly expanded ICD-10 code sets will fully support quality reporting, pay-for-performance, biosurveillance, and other critical activities.” The final rule gives health care providers and plans almost 2 extra years to implement the Version 5010 transaction standard and a full 2 years to switch to ICD-10, compared with the timeline proposed in 2008. Physician groups praised HHS for providing additional time for implementation. In written comments on the proposed rule, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) asserted that HHS should allow at least 2 years for practices to convert to 5010, followed by at least 3 more years to adopt ICD-10. These suggestions correspond to recommendations by the National Committtee on Vital and Health Statistics, a government advisory body. Like other physician groups, the ACS is concerned that because of administrative burdens, rapid movement to ICD-10 could slow adoption of health information technology and may make it more ment software. HHS also needs to work with private health plans to ensure there is no disruption in payments. He advised physician practices to become familiar with the requirements and the compliance dates, find out when vendors plan to update the software and what it will cost, and then set a budget that includes training and testing.
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Surgery News - February 2009 Surgery News - February 2009 Contents The 20/20 Vision ICD-10 Looms News From the College: MedPAC Flak Oncology: Best for Breast General Surgery: Weighty Problem Surgery News - February 2009 Surgery News - February 2009 - Contents (Page 1) Surgery News - February 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Surgery News - February 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Surgery News - February 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Surgery News - February 2009 - The 20/20 Vision ICD-10 Looms (Page 5) Surgery News - February 2009 - The 20/20 Vision ICD-10 Looms (Page 6) Surgery News - February 2009 - The 20/20 Vision ICD-10 Looms (Page 7) Surgery News - February 2009 - News From the College: MedPAC Flak (Page 8) Surgery News - February 2009 - News From the College: MedPAC Flak (Page 9) Surgery News - February 2009 - News From the College: MedPAC Flak (Page 10) Surgery News - February 2009 - News From the College: MedPAC Flak (Page 11) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 12) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 13) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 14) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 15) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 16) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 17) Surgery News - February 2009 - Oncology: Best for Breast (Page 18) Surgery News - February 2009 - General Surgery: Weighty Problem (Page 19) Surgery News - February 2009 - General Surgery: Weighty Problem (Page 20)
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