The Journal of American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) website recently published new data that suggests the estimated costs, time, and resources necessary for small physician offices to convert to ICD-10 are dramatically lower than initially predicted.
Physicians and their office staff, vendors, and health plans have made considerable progress with ICD-10 implementation. And it’s been done with fewer resources than previously estimated, thanks in large part to readily available free or low-cost solutions offered by coding education and software vendors.
Estimates of ICD-10 training and costs for a physician practice typically include the cost of new coding materials, coding training for impacted office staff, training for physicians, and the lost productivity time required for these activities.
The revised estimated costs for ICD-10 preparation and conversion for a small practice is in the $1,960 – $5,900 range, where a small practice is defined as three physicians and two impacted staff such as coders, front desk, or back office personnel.
Initial estimates of the cost to convert, as published in a 2008 Nachimson Advisors report to the American Medical Association, put small practice conversion costs in the $22,560 – $105,506 range.