It had to happen. Oct 1, 2014 was going to be just too much for providers of all sizes and levels of IT savvy.
And CMS has been under public pressure to change either the compliance date for ICD-10 or the final attestation deadline for Meaningful Use Stage 2, or both.
“It’s just an incredible perfect storm,” said John Hoyt, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics. “We also have payment reform and ICD-10.”
So on Friday, CMS extended Stage 2 into 2016 and said Stage 3 will start in 2017.
“It will be welcome by many CIOs who are struggling to complete ICD-10, MU2, HIPAA Omnibus Rule, and ACA simultaneously,” explained John Halamka, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
But for all of those folks actually hoping HHS would delay ICD-10 yet again this likely means that will not happen, after all.
“That is a firm date,” said Denescia Green, senior health insurance specialist at CMS. “Oct. 1, 2014.”
Simply put: CMS apparently knew one of the two had to go, and opted to extend meaningful use.
