The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hasn't been the most transparent agency this year, making vague announcements of delays and readiness requirements and then taking weeks to follow up with more specifics. This breakdown in communication could become especially problematic in the months ahead, as more clinics and healthcare providers inch closer toward the 2015 implementation deadline for ICD-10 and will, naturally, require more in-depth information on how to best accommodate the new codes and instruct staff on properly using them. This lack of clear communication has become such an issue that even Congress had to step in recently, penning a letter to CMS to request specifics on readiness procedures set to take place over the following year.

Whether in response to, or independently of, that Congressional request, CMS has issued a new statement wherein the agency has finally shed some light on many of these protocols, including end-to-end testing for ICD-10.

"There will be testing," Denesecia Green, Acting Director for the Administrative Simplification Group, wrote in the agency's newsletter. "To help mitigate risks around the ICD-10 transition, CMS is regularly bringing together payers, software/IT vendors, clearinghouses and providers to collaborate on sharing best practices and overcoming challenges."

EHR Intelligence reports that Green's statement will help to relieve some of the anxieties building within the industry over whether or not Medicare would be up to the task of processing providers' claims. According to the source, Green's remarks also confirm that the testing that had been planned and ultimately pulled for July wasn't meant to denote a cancelation, but rather a postponement to a later date.

October 2015 will creep up faster than you think, and it's imperative that clinics have installed the proper chiropractic EHR tools by then to ensure an easier transition to ICD-10.