BCBS Association says new ICD-10 deadline is 'unworkable'

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has become yet another healthcare organization [1] to come out swinging over HHS's proposed deadline for moving to the 5010 and ICD-10 coding systems. The proposed timeline for implementing them is "completely inadequate," and will lead to a "major meltdown" among providers, including delayed provider and consumer payments, less ability to detect fraud and abuse, and higher IT costs due to the short deadline. In making this argument, BCBSA has the support from the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the official adviser on HIPAA to HHS. 

NCVHS is recommending a two-year timeframe (from November 2008 through April 2010) for implementing the first phase of these changes, the 5010 version of the HIPAA standard transactions, which must be complete before starting work on the ICD-10 cutover. HHS is proposing a 17-month period, which will begin November 2008 and finish April 2010. The 5010, the next generation of the nine HIPAA electronic transactions, involves more than 860 changes. Then, the NCVHS is proposing three years for conversion to ICD-10, running from October 2010 through October 2013. HHS is proposing that the process take 28 months, from June 2009 through October 2011.

Based on the NCVHS recommendations--which assume that the two phases occur consecutively, rather than overlapping by 10 months as per the HHS proposal--the ICD-10 changeover couldn't occur before late 2013.

To learn more about the BCBSA position on ICD-10 and 5010 changes:
- read this BCBSA position statement [2]

Related Articles:
HHS proposes 2011 deadline for ICD-10 code adoption [3]
Doctors, health plans want longer ICD-10 timeline [1]
CMS now says NPI must match IRS data [4]
Switch to ICD-10 should be very costly [5]