As we shared with you last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at long last set October 1, 2015, as the firm implementation deadline for ICD-10. While the healthcare industry has largely been working toward that date as their end goal anyway, the official announcement puts to rest any possible concerns about the compliance cut-off shifting to yet another date.

But why did CMS choose 2015 at all? As CMS notes in its ruling, pushing the deadline back by one year — and no further — helps strike the best possible balance between giving providers adequate time to accommodate the new coding system, without squandering the financial and time investments already made by scores of hospitals, clinics and office-based physicians. 

"The industry has made significant progress toward ICD-10 compliance and has gained momentum in its efforts," writes the agency. "A delay of longer than 1 year would slow or even progress towards ICD-10 implementation. In order to preserve this momentum and encourage continued compliance efforts, we are establishing the shortest delay permitted by law, which is 1 year."

EHR Intelligence adds that by adhering to the shortest possible delay, CMS can ensure the least amount of possible financial losses. Had an extension been granted for even longer, the expenses required in continuing further ICD-10 preparations — and at a much slower pace — would reach a tipping point where implementing the new codes would simply cause more financial harm than good.

The best chiropractic EHR software can help any practice make the transition to ICD-10 next year, without disrupting their day-to-day workflow in the process.