ICD-10 Costs Could Be Significantly Less Than Expected

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

According to a new survey, small practices could end up paying much less for the transition to ICD-10 than originally expected.

Last February the American Medical Association issued a report indicating ICD-10 would cost providers more than originally predicted in 2008. Originally, costs for small practices to switch to ICD-10 were predicted to amount to around $83,000. In 2014, the AMA predicted the total cost could be over $105,000 for the same size practices.

Now, a survey from the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management indicates respondents from small practices are reporting lower costs than the 2008 predictions and vastly lower costs than last year’s AMA report estimated.

“Expenditures for ICD-10-related activities include costs already incurred, and costs yet to be expended. Expenses included those related to the costs of obtaining ICD-10 manuals and documentation, ICD-10 training costs, the cost of superbill conversion to ICD-10 and software system upgrades, and testing,” notes the report.

According to Health Data Management, 276 physician practices of fewer than six providers were surveyed about their total ICD-10 related costs for an entire practice. The average cost was only $8,167, while per provider expenditures averaged $3,430.

“Possible reasons for the numerical differences between the PAHCOM study and the AMA’s often cited figures could be newly available educational and training materials, new resources from the vendor community, and the increasing adoption of electronic health records by providers, which have helped to ease some transition expenses and concerns,” the authors concluded.