What’s new in Healthcare IT? ACOs and the ICD-10 delay, of course

A couple of big news items have hit the healthcare IT/long-term care industry within the past week or so.  I get an “update” just about every hour, but not a lot of true information.  Well, here’s some information my colleagues and I found and wanted to share with you.

ACOs – “The CMS designated 27 healthcare entities in 18 states as the first Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations.  The entities will aim to create financial incentives for physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers to better coordinate care and improve the health of Medicare beneficiaries while lowering their costs,” according to Modern Healthcare.  Read the full article at Modern Healthcare.

To download the list of participating organizations, click here.

ICD-10 – “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a proposed rule that would delay, from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014, the compliance date for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10).

The ICD-10 compliance date change is part of a proposed rule that would adopt a standard for a unique health plan identifier (HPID), adopt a data element that would serve as an “other entity” identifier (OEID), and add a National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirement.” – April 9, 2012, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Read the complete fact sheet provided by CMS for more information.