ICD-10 Implementation Reprieve

From the Wall Street Journal Health Blog:

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which maintains the U.S. codes for billing and diagnosis, said today it has put the finishing touches on the ICD-10, a new set that will allow for more specificity and precision in the way doctors and hospitals bill insurers for tests, procedures and other types of care. There’s a government fact sheet here.

After receiving more than 3,000 comments on its earlier ICD-10 proposal, the feds now say medical providers will have until Oct. 1, 2013, before they have to use ICD-10, rather than a prior proposal of Oct. 1, 2011. Many comments requested more time to comply, citing costs and the need for training and testing, according to CMS.