Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) is sponsoring the bill, H.R. 2247, called “Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act, or ICD-TEN Act.
Instead of stopping or delaying the implementation of ICD-10, the proposed bill would create an 18-month transition period as well as “require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide transparent testing to assess the transition under the Medicare fee-for-service claims processing system from the ICD-9 to the ICD-10 standard, and for other purposes.”
According to the Journal of AHIMA, the bill does not require CMS to accept dual coding of both ICD-9 and ICD-10; rather, it asks HHS to conduct end-to-end testing and certify to Congress that ICD-10 processing is fully functioning.
The bill would also bar Medicare from denying claims due to an inaccurate subcode.
Perceptions of the ICD-10 transition are mixed, with some providers prepared for the transition and others voicing concerns. In February, the Government Accountability Office released a report indicating CMS is prepared to transition to ICD-10 Oct. 1. However, a recent survey from NueMD found just 13 percent of 1,000 respondents are “highly confident” that their business will be prepared for the transition date.
More articles on ICD-10:
100 physicians groups call for ICD-10 contingency plan
10 important ICD-10 questions to ask your EHR vendor
CMS releases video outlining ICD-10 basics
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