Home Health ICD-9/ICD-10 Alert

While the ICD-10 transition date is in the early stages of being settled, home health agencies are still wondering when OASIS-C1 will go live.

At the recent National Association for Home Care & Hospice March on Washington conference, Pat Sevast with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recounted how last year’s ICD-10 delay led to the postponement of OASIS-C1 to this Oct. 1. The need to transition from the current OASIS-C to the new OASIS-C1 was originally inspired by the need to accommodate new, alphanumeric, seven-character ICD-10 codes.

Now observers expect to see another OASIS-C1 delay to match ICD-10 again. And home health agencies trying to decide how to prioritize their OASIS-C1 preparation activities aren’t getting any help from CMS.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is examining the implications of the ICD-10 delay implemented in the recent doc fix bill, “and will provide guidance to providers and other stakeholders soon on the implementation of OASIS-C1,” a CMS rep says. In the meantime, CMS cancelled an OASIS-C1 implementation webinar originally scheduled for April 30, 2014. “Once a decision is made about OASIS-C1, we will determine if it is appropriate to reschedule the webinar.”

While an OASIS-C1 delay wouldn’t come as a surprise, it’s not yet a done deal. And some industry experts are urging CMS to move ahead with the updated assessment tool. 

“It would be very unfortunate if OASIS-C1 was postponed simply because ICD-10 has been delayed through political maneuvering by certain other segments of the industry,” says Beth Johnson, MBA, BSN, RN, CRRN, HCS-D, HCS-O, with Johnson, Richards, & Associates, in Brighton, Mich.

“As far as I’m concerned OASIS C-1 is a giant step forward in getting better results for some of the most difficult to answer items, so it would be a shame to not continue forward,” adds Lisa Selman-Holman, JD, BSN, RN, COS-C, HCS-D, HCS-O, AHIMA Approved ICD-10-CM Trainer/Ambassador of Selman-Holman & Associates, CoDR—Coding Done Right and Code Pro University in Denton, Texas. 

“OASIS-C1 is at least a step in the right direction in reducing the burden on HH agencies that only one other segment of the industry (SNFs) must shoulder in terms of federally mandated documentation requirements at admission, transfer, resumption of care, other follow-up, and discharge,” Johnson says.

Wait and see: CMS hadn’t officially called off the OASIS-C1 deadline at press time. The agency hadn’t made the decision yet, a CMS source told Eli.