Sen. Coburn calls for indefinite delay of ICD-10 implementation

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., last week called for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to indefinitely delay ICD-10 implementation for doctors and hospitals. He said in a white paper that implementing the new coding system could do more harm than good. The American Medical Association and others are also calling for ICD-10 to possibly be put on hold indefinitely, while the health information industry and insurers want CMS to enact a proposed one-year delay. Coburn is a physician and a member of the Senate Committee on Finance.