ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Feb. 1, 2012 — The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding major payment disruptions medical practices are experiencing as a result of the federally mandated transition to the HIPAA Version 5010 electronic transaction standard on Jan. 1.
Along with examples of problems practices have been having with the 5010 transition, the Association recommended steps for the government to take to solve them.
In the letter, President and CEO Susan L. Turney, MD, MS, FACP, FACMPE, warned that “should the government not take the necessary steps, many practices face significant cash flow disruptions, operational difficulties, a reduced ability to treat patients, staff layoffs, or even the prospect of closing their practices."
"MGMA’s principle concern is, without immediate action from HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to alleviate these issues, disruptions caused by Version 5010 will ultimately interfere with patient access to quality care," Turney added "As the transition to Version 5010 is a mandatory step toward ICD-10 implementation, this raises even more concerns, given that ICD-10 is exponentially greater than Version 5010.”
Read the full letter here http://www.mgma.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=1369699%20
Source: http://www.mgma.com/press/MGMA-letter-highlights-payment-disruptions-from-5010-conversion/