WEDI to Spearhead Industry Consensus Under Revised ICD-10 Implementation Timeframe

Reston, VA -- The recently passed extension to the Sustainable Growth Rate (The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (HR 4302) moved the deadline for ICD-10 compliance from October 1, 2014 to no earlier than October 1, 2015.  The additional time provides an opportunity for the healthcare industry to assess key challenges to implementing ICD-10 and to develop industry consensus on how to best overcome such challenges.

 “WEDI believes that the delay in the ICD-10 compliance date will help avoid potential disruptions in the healthcare system by allowing all affected entities more time to complete the necessary work and conduct extensive testing. It is not a reason to pause,” said Devin Jopp, Ed.D., WEDI President and CEO.  According to WEDI’s October 2013 industry readiness survey, many organizations had fallen behind in their implementation progress.  “It is very important that the industry utilize this additional time to identify effective and actionable implementation steps to maximize use of the additional time in order to minimize the cost on impacted organizations and maximize the benefit.  WEDI looks forward to helping to bring the industry together to identify common strategies that we can use to help ensure that we all achieve ICD-10 compliance.”   

WEDI contends that the industry must use this additional time as a means to catch up on adoption efforts and promote improved coordination of activities with all trading partners. The extended compliance time frame will also permit state entities, such as workers compensation plans, to transition to the new code set and  allow software vendors to participate in the forthcoming Practice Management System Accreditation Program (PMSAP) that WEDI developed with the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission. “Unless all healthcare partners work together toward common goals, we will continue to face overly burdensome, expensive, and protracted implementation of these standards.” stated Jopp.  

 WEDI has a number of educational offerings and resources available and has aligned its upcoming Annual Conference, held in Los Angeles, CA on May 12-15, 2014, to focus on how the delay will impact organizations’ compliance activities. WEDI will continue to conduct periodic surveys to monitor progress and to help the industry achieve compliance.

 About WEDI

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) is the leading authority on the use of Health IT to improve healthcare information exchange in order to enhance the quality of care, improve efficiency, and reduce costs of our nation’s healthcare system. WEDI was formed in 1991 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was designated in the 1996 HIPAA legislation as an advisor to HHS. WEDI’s membership includes a broad coalition of organizations, including: hospitals, providers, health plans, vendors, government agencies, consumers, not-for-profit organizations, and standards bodies.