AMA repeats call to halt ICD-10 adoption

The American Medical Association has renewed its call to hit the pause button on the national adoption of the ICD-10 diagnostic and procedural codes.

In a letter to CMS acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, AMA Executive Vice President Dr. James Madara referenced a November 2011 House of Delegates policy vote in which that body called for a “repeal” of the move to ICD “so that physicians and other stakeholders could assess an appropriate alternative to such a costly, burdensome regulatory requirement. The AMA has since pressed the case for a second look at ICD-10 overall.

The latest Madara missive comes within the public comment period on an HHS proposed rule extending by one year the national ICD-10 compliance deadline to Oct. 1, 2014. The comment period ends May 17.

Physicians need the delay because they are “overwhelmed with the simultaneous implementation of multiple health IT programs,” Madara said.

He asked for a two-year extension to Oct. 1, 2015, with the caveat that “if stakeholders cannot reach consensus on this matter during this two-year period, then the move to ICD-10 should be postponed indefinitely.”