The offical transition to the ICD-10 coding set takes place next October (or so we hope). Many providers have already spent a good deal of money preparing for the inevitable, but even so, you need to make certain that select ICD-10 costs are included in your 2015 budget.
How much are you planning to spend on ICD-10 implementation? It's more complicated than buying new software and ICD-10 coding books. Medical practices especially will need to allocate resources — time and money — in four key areas:
Coding Revenue cycle Project management IT[See also: ICD-10 and revenue cycle readiness.]
More specifically, medical practices will need to prepare for costs such as:
Software and hardware In house and vendor modifications Upgrades New software, systems and equipment Education Coder training Clinician education Awareness raising Testing related costs Staff time needed for: Implementation planning Training Testing Vendor management Temp staffing to assist with extra work resulting from: Decreased coding productivity Billing backlogs Claims denial and rejection management IT work on upgrades and systems Lost time during training Consulting services Forms and reports Redesign Printing costs Data conversion Dual coding Added time Maintaining data collection Analyzing data Contingencies Software that doesn't work Staffing issuesThese costs, which could be substantial, need to be assigned to the appropriate department budgets. And ICD-10 budgeting planning doesn't stop Oct. 1, 2015. Medical practices will need more staffing to deal with productivity, claims management and software upgrades after the ICD-10 deadline.
ICD-10 budgeting takes some work, but it will help medical practices be prepared for a successful ICD-10 transition.