Who Will Finance The Conversion To ICD-10?
After reading a recent article posted by Angela Boynton, a frequent and informative writer with the American Academy of Professional Coders, titled "The Cost of ICD-10 Implementation," I am left wondering who will, realistically, finance the cost of conversion to ICD-10. In the article, Angela cites a study conducted by the The Medical Group Management Association which predicts astronomical ICD-10 implementations costs. The study found that, on average, it would cost :
- $84,000.00 for the average small physician practice to upgrade to ICD-10;
- $3,000,000.00 for large practice implementation;
- $500,000.00 - $14,000,000.00 for health plans, depending on size.
While the article does not go into details regarding the scope and time frame for the projected costs (i.e. Are these "lifetime" costs or one-time conversion costs? Do these costs include new equipment, software, technical support, training and so forth?), it is clear that the health care industry will be addressing more than the burden associated with training and education.
However, I am not sure that these figures are accurate, nor that they will be paid by the health care providers. For instance, if a small physician practice is currently leasing billing software, or working with a medical billing company, wouldn't these service providers absorb most of the conversion costs?
My assumption is that current ICD-9 billing and coding software can easily be converted to, or updated for, ICD-10 functionality and compatibility. And even if my "easily converted" assumption is wrong, isn't it in the service providers' best interest to keep the costs to the end users - like small physician practices - as low as possible so that they can retain their client base?
As for those practices that use in-house billing and coding software that they own, it is probably best to hold off and buy a comprehensive software that incorporates ICD-10 billing and coding, and a certified electronic health records system ("EHR"). Most practices will be expending money for the EHR software no matter what happens with ICD-10, so waiting for one unified system will likely be the most cost effective approach. The problem for these practices is that they will be pressed to purchase the EHR software much sooner than ICD-10 will be in use.
