New ICD-10 conversion date announced – October 1, 2015.

The new deadline for converting to ICD-10 is officially October 1, 2015. The new date isn’t a huge surprise to many, however, the surprises will come in the details. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is expected to release an interim final rule that addresses the final pieces of the rule, including the required use of ICD-9-CM through September 30, 2015. This would mean no dual-coding for those who were prepared for the 2014 deadline.

The American Medical Association criticizes EHR certification requirements.

The AMA submitted a letter to National Coordinator, Karen DeSalvo, MD this week addressing concerns expressed by its constituents. According to the AMA, the Meaningful Use / MIPS requirements are “overly rigid” and the certification process “is not focused on ensuring interoperable and usable systems.”

According to the AMA’s analysis, 20 percent of eligible professionals have dropped out of the program. They expect this number to rise over time. EHR vendors are surprised by the complexity of Stage 2.  Some of the most challenging criteria appear to relate to clinical quality measures, interoperability, and automated measure calculation for reporting metrics. 

FBI raises awareness about healthcare industry cyber attack vulnerabilities.

The FBI has issued warnings to the healthcare community related to cyber attack vulnerability. Their notice, covered on FierceHealthIT, suggests that healthcare organizations remain alert for suspicious activity and to report it to local FBI bureaus or to the agency’s 24/7 Cyber Watch.

The FBI suggests that the healthcare industry is more vulnerable than other industries such as financial and retail, which increases the risk. Other factors that increase risk include, the demand for healthcare information, as the data is valuable and can provide access to bank accounts or obtain prescription drugs and healthcare organization’s inability to encrypt devices that contain sensitive information.