CMS delays July end-to-end ICD-10 testing to 2015

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed ICD-10 end-to-end testing scheduled for July, in an effort to readjust the timeline for ICD-10 implementation.

The testing was slated for July 21 through July 25, “to give a sample group of providers the opportunity to participate in end-to-end testing with Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contractor.” CMS remarked that that additional testing would be scheduled in 2015, with no mention of a specific date.

CMS released the new ICD-10 deadline, October 1, 2015, buried in 1,700-page rule earlier this month. Congress included a delay to the implementation to ICD-10 in a bill passed last March, along with another one-year patch to the sustainable growth rate.

CMS announced end-to-end testing for ICD-10 in February, after receiving pressure from the American Medical Association and other physicians’ groups to identify operational issues before the ICD-10 delay, so that practices can ensure that there was no disruption in cash flow. CMS conducted front-end claim testing in March.

Healthcare IT analysts have encouraged practices to continue with ICD-10 planning and implementation, despite the delay.

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How should practice owners proceed now that ICD-10 has been delayed?