AMA calls for 2-year delay of ICD-10 enforcement

Federal officials should delay a deadline to switch to the ICD-10 diagnosis code sets for billing physician services by at least two years instead of one, the AMA said in a May 10 letter to CMS.CMS has proposed a one-year delay from Oct. 1, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2014. But the AMA wants CMS to take more time to evaluate whether an alternative diagnosis code set is more appropriate than a full transition to the roughly 68,000 ICD-10 codes. A full cost-benefit analysis on the administrative and financial impact of the switch is needed, wrote AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, MD, in a letter commenting on the proposed one-year delay.