The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ proposed rule to move its ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition date to 2014 will not affect most healthcare professional organizations planning and implementation efforts, according to a survey by Kforce Healthcare Solutions.

Seventy percent of healthcare organizations plan to continue their current course of ICD-10 updates, and 35 percent of respondents said their organizations already have an effective ICD-10 steering committee in place. However, 60 percent of respondents felt that physician cooperation will be the biggest challenge to ICD-10 implementation. ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the international medical classification system established by the World Health Organization.

 “The CMS’ proposed rule to modify the ICD-10 compliance date now allows healthcare facilities who have yet to focus on the ICD-10 transition to put more emphasis on planning for ICD-10 implementation,” said Keith Fulmer, Kforce Healthcare Solutions executive vice president. “Additionally, moving the ICD-10 compliance date to 2014 gives facilities the ability to spread the costs of ICD-10 planning over the next two fiscal years.”

Kforce Healthcare Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kforce Inc. (NASD: KFRC), a Tampa, Fla.-based professional staffing firm.