This week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a proposed rule, the third in a series of simplification rules in the new health care law, that can potentially save health care professionals and health plans up to $4.6 billion over the next ten years by reducing and simplifying administrative processes. View the entire announcement here.

In order to reduce physicians’ administrative burdens, the rule recommends that health plans have a unique identifier with a standard format to automate billing processes and other transactions. The rule also delays the compliance date for ICD-10, which has been a concern for many physicians, from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014 for new codes used to classify diseases and health problems. This delay will give physicians and their practices more time to prepare and coordinate the transition. View the proposed rule ICD-10 fact sheet for more information.

The deadline for comments is 30 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register, which will tentatively occur on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.