The AMA voted in favor of a two-year grace period to ensure protection for hospitals and physician practices implementing a new medical classification system.
AMA's vote pertaining to the federally mandated ICD-10 coding system is symbolic in that the AMA does not make federal policy. AMA's House of Delegates is working to create a national physician consensus concerning surfacing public health issues.
Here are key concepts for the ICD-10 change:
1. The deadline for implementing the new ICD-10 coding system, which better tracks diagnoses and treatments, is set for Oct. 1, 2015.
2. Despite the AMA voting in favor of delays, senior IT leaders and healthcare CIOs have voiced their concerns regarding extended deadlines.
3. The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives claims the delays are taking time away from planning and implementing this vital coding system.
4. ICD-10 changes approximately 15,000 codes used in ICD-9 for about 68,000 new codes.
5. The new codes will be more descriptive in nature and will dictate how the more than $2.8 trillion American spend each year on medical care will be paid out.
6. The AMA delayed the votes in efforts to reduce potential issues by making sure physicians will not be penalized for errors, mistakes and/or malfunctions of the ICD-10 system.
7. ICD-10 will increase the number of codes physicians use for diagnoses by 400 percent, thus reducing time physicians spend administering quality care with patients.
8. Russell Kridel, MD, AMA board member, stated the AMA will work to avoid widespread disruptions in coding as a way not to interfere with high quality care.
For more coding news:
CMS: April end-to-end ICD-10 testing results in 88% acceptance rate
AMA supports bill that would halt ICD-10 implementation