Cost of small physician office ICD-10 conversion overestimated

New data suggests that the costs and efforts related to ICD-implementation for small physician offices have been overestimated, according to a study in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association.

For small practices, the revised estimated costs for ICD-10 implementation—which include a coding book, coder training for impacted office staff, web-based training for physicians and lost productivity—is in the range of $1,960 to $5,900. This is significantly lower than the estimates offered in the widely cited 2008 report by Nachimson Advisors to the American Medical Association that it would be in the range of $22,560 to $105,506.

The primary reason behind this is the readily available free and low cost solutions offered by coding, education and software vendors, according to the study. “The coding industry is much more knowledgeable and ready for ICD-10 now than previously reported,” wrote the authors.

Also, previous reports estimated that physician offices would shoulder the burden of “end-to-end testing” of claims; however, this responsibility has fallen on EMR and clearing-house vendors and physician participation is minimal.

The value of ICD-10 implementation often is forgotten. Overall, the benefits of ICD-10 implementation far exceeds the costs, as foregoing ICD-10 translates into a loss of $22 billion for the U.S. healthcare sector, according to the study.

“Since the new estimates are much lower than originally estimated, the barriers to ICD-10 implementation are much less than originally projected,” concluded the authors.