Are ICD-10 conversion cost estimates overblown? | Medical Economics
November 21, 2014 By Jeffrey Bendix, Senior Editor
A new study is challenging the conventional belief that the costs of converting to the International Classification of Diseases-10th revision (ICD-10) code set will be prohibitive for small medical practices.
The study, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) puts ICD-10 conversion costs for a three-physician practice in the range of $1,960 to $5,900. That contrasts with a widely quoted study prepared for the American Medical Association (AMA)—written in 2008 and updated earlier this year—concluding that small-practice conversion costs will range from $22,500 to $105,500.
Stanley Nachimson, principal of Nachimson Advisors, LLC, and author of the AMA study, stands by his estimates, saying “I didn’t see anything in the AHIMA article that would cause me to question the costs predicted in my study.”
The authors of the AHIMA study say their estimates are lower than those in the AMA study “as a result of readily available free and low-cost solutions offered by coding, education and software vendors.” Their findings are based on survey results, published results, and hospitals’ and physicians’ conversion experiences, they write.
In the area of ICD-10 training, they cite the availability of online documentation and coding training for three hours of clinician training at a cost of $50 to $300, and for staff from $350 to $700. They note that the ICD-10 Diagnoses Code Book can be downloaded for free or purchased from publishers for no more than $300.
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