Feds delay ICD-10 for two years

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced it has put the finishing touches on the ICD-10, a new set that will allow for more specificity and precision in the way doctors and hospitals bill insurers for tests, procedures, and other types of care. But after receiving more than 3,000 comments on its earlier ICD-10 proposal, the feds now say medical providers will have until Oct. 1, 2013, before they have to use ICD-10, rather than a prior proposal of Oct. 1, 2011. Many comments requested more time to comply, citing costs and the need for training and testing, according to CMS.