AT A HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS)<\/span> <\/span>\u2013 The transition to the ICD-10 coding set should take place as planned on Oct. 1, witnesses testified at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Health.<\/p>\n The message was welcome to committee leadership, who invited testimony almost solely from experts who support that position. <\/p>\n Subcommittee members from both sides of the aisle expressed a desire to not delay the implementation any further, though some at the Feb. 11 hearing<\/a> <\/span> questioned whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was ready for the transition. <\/p>\n Subcommittee member Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), an ob.gyn., said he had no questions about the readiness of Medicare contractors and insurance companies for the transition, but \u201call roads eventually lead to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And if you will pardon me, that does appear to be a weak link in the chain because from HealthCare.gov to the Sunshine Act reporting website, when CMS flips a switch, something breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n While no representative from the CMS testified, a recent report<\/a> <\/span> from the Government Accountability Office suggested that the agency is positioned to make the transition to ICD-10 by the Oct. 1 deadline, although continued testing is warranted. That report was commissioned by the Senate Finance Committee, which also expressed support for an Oct. 1 start date for ICD-10.<\/p>\n