The American Medical Association said it supports an HHS decision to move back its Oct. 1, 2013 deadline for implementing the ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes.

"The American Medical Association appreciates Secretary (Kathleen) Sebelius' swift response to address the AMA's serious concerns with ICD-10 implementation," Dr. Peter Carmel, president of the AMA, said in a news release. "The timing of the ICD-10 transition could not be worse for physicians as they are spending significant financial and administrative resources implementing electronic health records in their practices and trying to comply with multiple quality and health information technology programs that include penalties for noncompliance. Burdens on physician practices need to be reduced—not created—as the nation's healthcare system undertakes significant payment and delivery reforms."

The AMA House of Delegates voted at its interim meeting last November in New Orleans "to work vigorously to stop implementation" of ICD-10.