On Oct. 1, 2013, I marked the 12-month countdown to ICD-10 implementation by attempting to answer some basic questions. Now that more than six months have passed, and we have another deadline delay, many healthcare providers still can't get satisfactory answers.
Is the deadline going to change again?
What can I say? I blew that answer by insisting that the Oct. 1, 2014, deadline was and would be a firm deadline for four reasons:
- No one would ever take the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seriously again.
- HIPAA 5010 was an expensive lesson.
- One more delay would cost some serious money.
- CMS is working really hard.
The most valid point is probably the first. The most recent delay shows ICD-10 can be easily torpedoed.
How much will this really cost?
We have an updated ICD-10 cost estimate. Nachimson Advisors estimates a small medical practice could spend from $56,639 to $226,105. The new survey recognizes there are many factors that need to be accounted for.
Is this really going to help medical practices?
Maybe. The answer depends in part on how a physician feels about collecting public health data.
Where does a medical practice start?
They can start with the CMS National Provider Call on June 4. It's going to begin with the obligatory basic introductory information. From there, medical practices can go to CMS.gov/icd10 to get a ton of materials, timelines and guides.