It has been over a month since Congress and President Obama passed a law that, among other things, extended the implementation deadline for ICD-10 by another year. Although many in the healthcare industry had worried about being able to reach the initial start date of October 1, 2014, payers and providers alike were upset at the sudden delay, believing that it would undercut much of the momentum that had been building up for the last several months. Even more worrisome was the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services' (CMS) subsequent silence on the matter, offering little to no clarification on when healthcare groups could expect the new ICD-10 deadline to occur.

But after weeks of industry-wide anxiety, CMS has finally shed some much-needed light on the subject by announcing that the new start date for ICD-10 will occur exactly one year after the original deadline: October 1, 2015. 

"The ICD-10-CM/PCS transition is scheduled to take place on Oct. 1, 2015," the CMS said in an official statement. "After that date, we will collect non-electronic health record-based quality measure data coded only in ICD-10-CM/PCS."

The news should come as a relief to practices and clinics that were worried over how an unspecified start date would drastically undercut their budgeting and staffing schedules over ICD-10. With October 1, 2015, firmly set in place now, those groups can now proceed forward with a more concrete timetable in mind.

Healthcare groups looking to make the jump to ICD-10 are encouraged to invest in the best chiropractic EMR software, helping to ensure up-to-date health record compatibility without impeding any of their day-to-day responsibilities. Upgrading from a 30-year-old coding system and learning the tens of thousands of new codes that ICD-10 introduces is no small feat, making it essential to have chiropractic EHR software that won't add any additional backlog to your administrative duties.