MGMA Asks HHS Secretary Sebelius to Reverse Course and Reinstate External ICD-10 Testing

July 25, 2013
On July 23, the leaders of the Englewood, Colo.-based Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, asking her to reverse a newly announced policy regarding testing for the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system later this year.

On July 23, the leaders of the Englewood, Colo.-based Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) sent a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), asking Secretary Sebelius to reverse a policy that HHS had just announced regarding testing for the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system. The letter, which was sent to Sebelius under the signature of Susan L Turney, MGMA’s president and CEO, begun thus: “Dear Secretary Sebelius: The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is extremely concerned with the Medicare announcement that it will not be conducting ICD-10 end-to-end testing with external trading partners, including physician practices. We strongly urge,” the letter continued, “that you immediately reverse this policy and expedite Medicare ICD-10 end-to-end testing. This action would decrease the potential of a catastrophic backlog of Medicare claims following the Oct. 1., 2014 compliance date. Failure to do so could result in significant cash flow disruption for physicians and their practices, and serious access to care issues for Medicare patients.”

What’s more, the letter said, “ICD-10 will be one of the most sifniciant changes the physician practice community has ever undertaken—impacting both the clinical and administrative sides of every care delivery organization.” MGMA represents 13,200 physician organizations nationwide, with those organizations in turn encompassing 280,000 physicians, who provide more than 40 percent of the healthcare services delivered in the U.S., according to the association.

Sponsored Recommendations

Ask the Expert: Is Your Patients' Understanding Putting You at Risk?

Effective health literacy in healthcare is essential for ensuring informed consent, reducing medical malpractice risks, and enhancing patient-provider communication. Unfortunately...

Beyond the Silos: Transforming Coordinated Care Across Healthcare Systems

Coordinated healthcare is vital to delivering a high-quality patient experience, yet it has been difficult to systematize across all healthcare settings. Although it has largely...

The Healthcare Provider's Guide to Accelerating Clinician Onboarding

Improve clinician satisfaction and productivity to enhance patient care

ASK THE EXPERT: ServiceNow’s Erin Smithouser on what C-suite healthcare executives need to know about artificial intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence, also known as GenAI, learns from vast amounts of existing data and large language models to help healthcare organizations improve hospital ...

According to an Oct. 10 press release, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) finds that vaccines against 24 pathogens could reduce the number of antibiotics needed by 22% or 2.5 billion defined daily doses globally every year, supporting worldwide efforts to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). While some of these vaccines are already available but underused, others would need to be developed and brought to the market as soon as possible. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of illness, death and the spread of infections that are difficult to treat. AMR is driven largely by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, yet, at the same time, many people around the world do not have access to essential antimicrobials. Each year, nearly 5 million deaths are associated with AMR globally. Vaccines are an essential part of the response to reduce AMR as they prevent infections, reduce the use and overuse of antimicrobials, and slow the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens. The new report expands on a WHO study published in BMJ Global Health last year. It estimates that vaccines already in use against pneumococcus pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib, a bacteria causing pneumonia and meningitis) and typhoid could avert up to 106 000 of the deaths associated with AMR each year. An additional 543 000 deaths associated with AMR could be averted annually when new vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and Klebsiella pneumoniae, are developed and rolled out globally. While new TB vaccines are in clinical trials, one against Klebsiella pneumoniae is in early stage of development.
dreamstime_xxl_210174616_1