BCBSA: Administration’s Proposed Rule For ICD-10 Will Lead To Healthcare ‘Meltdown’ For Patients And Providers

BCBSA urges administration to adopt NCVHS recommended timeline

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) supports the administration's move to 5010 and ICD-10 coding systems, but believes the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed timeframes for insurers and providers to implement these massive changes are unworkable.

"The proposed timeline for implementation is completely inadequate," said Scott P. Serota, BCBSA president and CEO.  "Rushing the process will result in a major meltdown in the healthcare industry including – unavoidably – inaccurate and delayed payments to providers and consumers, an inability to detect fraud and abuse, and unnecessarily higher total costs of implementation due to the accelerated timeline.  We strongly urge the administration to adopt the recommended timeline advanced by the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics."

The National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the official adviser on HIPAA to HHS, recommends a two-year timeframe for implementing the first phase of these changes – the 5010, which must be done before starting work on ICD-10.  Then, they support three years for conversion to ICD-10.  The NCVHS very clearly states that the implementation of the two should be done consecutively – not concurrently.  If the NCVHS process were followed and started now, the soonest ICD-10 could be completed is late 2013.

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