While Congress is in August recess, Government Health IT magazine published an article on the status of the major health information technology (IT) bills in Congress, HR 4157 (passed by the House in July) and S. 1418 (passed by the Senate in November 2005. The article notes that time is running out to reconcile the bills and enact a comprehensive health IT law in this session of Congress.

The article erroneously suggests that the ICD-10 mandate is not in the House bill, but in fact it is found in Section 203 with an October 1, 2010 compliance date. What’s more Section 202 of H.R. 4157 would require replacement of the ASC X12 4010 electronic claim standards with the ASC X12 5010 standards and the adoption by pharmacies of the latest National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) Telecommunications Standards by April 1, 2009.