AMA: ICD-10 costs ‘dramatically’ higher than estimates
ICD-10 implementation will cost physicians “dramatically” more than previously estimated, according to a cost study initiated by the American Medical Association (AMA) and conducted by Nachimson Advisors.
The estimated costs are nearly triple what had been predicted by a 2008 study also produced by Nachimson Advisors. In 2008, the predicted costs for implementation ranged from $83,290 for a small practice, $285,195 for a medium practice and $2,728,780 for a large practice. The 2014 study found the following cost ranges for each practice size based on variable factors such as specialty, vendor and software:
- Small practice: $56,639-$226,105
- Medium practice: $213,364-$824,735
- Large practice: $2,017,151-$8,018,364
Two-thirds of physician practices are projected to fall into the upper range of these estimates, according to AMA.
“The markedly higher implementation costs for ICD-10 place a crushing burden on physicians, straining vital resources needed to invest in new healthcare delivery models and well developed technology that promotes care coordination with real value to patients,” said AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, in the release.
The association also asserted that vendor readiness for ICD-10 is lagging, and consequently few practices have conducted appropriate testing to ensure a smooth transition.
AMA sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking her to again reconsider the ICD-10 mandate and launched a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #StopICD10.