The Division of Workers’ Compensation has posted proposed changes to a regulation and to the Medical Billing and Payment Guide to postpone the current ICD-10 compliance date of October 1, 2014 for one year, to October 1, 2015.

The International Classification of Diseases – 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) and the International Classification of Diseases – 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) were adopted in February 2014 with an implementation date to coincide with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) implementation date.

Congressional action earlier this year postponed the October 1, 2014 compliance date for entities covered by HIPAA. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a public notice indicating that the United States Department of Health and Human Services expects to release an interim final rule in the near future that will provide a new compliance date that will require use of the ICD-10 beginning October 1, 2015 for HIPAA-covered entities. For workers’ compensation, the Administrative Director proposes to amend the DWC Medical Billing and Payment Guide to align the workers’ compensation ICD-10 transition date with the October 1, 2015 ICD-10 transition date applicable to HIPAA-covered entities and the broader health care sector.

The Administrative Director is accepting written comments until 5 p.m. on Monday, September 8, 2014. No public hearing has been scheduled; all comments may be submitted in writing by the close of the comment period. The notice and text of the regulations can be found on the proposed regulations page.