ICD-10 Grace Period

Recently, physicians and physician advocates have pressed for legislation allowing an ICD-10 Grace Period that has been introduced as HR 2652 Bill. Specifically, “In carrying out regulations providing for the replacement of ICD–9 with ICD–10 as a standard for code sets under section 1173(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(c)) and section 162.1002 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide for a 2-year grace period during which physicians and other health care providers submitting claims and other documents using ICD–10 are not penalized for errors, mistakes, and malfunctions relating to the transition to such code set.”

AS CMS recently announced successful ICD-10 testing results, physicians understand this small sample size likely does not accurately portray their individual situations. Both the American Medical Association and the Medical Association of Georgia acknowledge the difficulty of this situation and support a grace period of some sort. Both organizations encourage physicians to contact their congressional leaders as does SHP:

Georgia’s Congressional Contacts