Group Calls For Halt To Insurance Codes Switch

Group Calls For Halt To Insurance Codes Switch.

The Hill  (1/27, Pecquet) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog that the American Medical Association "has sent House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) a letter urging him to halt a federal requirement forcing doctors to switch to new insurance codes in 2013," as it "will require doctors' offices to deal with some 68,000 codes, more than five times the current 13,000," and "cost medical practices anywhere between $83,290 and more than $2.7 million, depending on size." AMA CEO James Madara writes that the move will "create significant burdens on the practice of medicine with no direct benefit to individual patient care."

        Modern Healthcare  (1/27, Conn, Subscription Publication) reports that in Madara's letter , he said that "the timing of the transition 'could not be worse as many physicians are currently spending significant time and resources implementing electronic health records (EHR) into their practices.'" In addition, he "said more needs to be done to synchronize three key federal health information technology programs: those pertaining to electronic prescribing, the meaningful use of EHR systems and the physician quality reporting system."