MGMA Concerned with ICD-10, Plan Identifier Rule Provisions

The Medical Group Management Association is disappointed with provisions of a new final rule setting an Oct. 1, 2014, compliance date for ICD-10 and establishing a health plan identifier, along with other administrative simplification provisions. Following is MGMA’s statement:

“Despite the additional year for ICD-10 implementation, MGMA remains concerned that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has mandated this new code set without having undertaken the necessary due diligence to ensure it will not create debilitating cash flow disruptions for physician practices.  Also, we are not confident that critical trading partners, including Medicare and state Medicaid plans, will be ready in time to conduct testing well in advance of the October 2014 compliance date. We urge CMS to significantly escalate its implementation efforts by pilot testing ICD-10, ensuring health plan, clearinghouse and vendor readiness, and developing comprehensive educational resources.

“We are also disappointed that CMS missed a significant administrative simplification opportunity to create true claims revenue cycle transparency with the Health Plan Identifier rule. By not requiring health plans to enumerate at a more granular level, physicians will continue to face the burden of manually identifying these entities.”