Changes Will Be Costly

Although information systems are the 800-pound gorilla in the room, the financial impact weighs in at around 799 pounds. Estimates of the costs of implementing ICD-10 vary widely.

For example, Nachimson Advisors, LLC, estimates it will cost the typical small practice with three doctors and two administrative staff around $83,000 to fully implement ICD-10. For a large practice employing 100 providers and 64 staff members, the price tag could be as much as $2.7 million.

Some of these costs will be easy to quantify and plan for. After consulting with your information management vendors and looking at the maintenance contracts, the practice should have a good idea of how much to budget for new programs, new hardware, and training on that part of the changeover.

TABLE 1: Gout Codes

2011 ICD-9 Acute gout arthropathy:

  • 274.00
  • 274.01

ICD-10 Acute gout:

  • M10. Gout
    • Acute gout
    • Gout attack
    • Gout flare
    • Gout NOS
    • Podagra
  • M10.00 Idiopathic gout, specified site
  • M10.01 Idiopathic gout, shoulder
    • M10.011 idiopathic gout, right shoulder
    • M10.012 idiopathic gout, left shoulder
    • M10.019 idiopathic gout, unspecified shoulder
  • M10.02 Idiopathic gout, elbow
    • M10.021 idiopathic gout, right elbow
    • M10.022 idiopathic gout, left elbow
    • M10.029 idiopathic gout, unspecified elbow
  • M10.03 Idiopathic gout, wrist
    • M10.031 idiopathic gout, right wrist
    • M10.032 idiopathic gout, left wrist
    • M10.039 idiopathic gout, unspecified wrist
  • M10.04 Idiopathic gout, hand
    • M10.041 idiopathic gout, right hand
    • M10.042 idiopathic gout, left hand
    • M10.049 idiopathic gout, unspecified hand
  • M10.05 Idiopathic gout, hip
    • M10.051 idiopathic gout, right hip
    • M10.052 idiopathic gout, left hip
    • M10.059 idiopathic gout, unspecified hip
  • M10.06 Idiopathic gout, knee
    • M10.061 idiopathic gout, right knee
    • M10.062 idiopathic gout, left knee
    • M10.069 idiopathic gout, unspecified knee
  • M10.07 Idiopathic gout, ankle and foot
    • M10.071 idiopathic gout, left ankle and foot
    • M10.072 idiopathic gout, right ankle and foot
    • M10.079 idiopathic gout, unspecified ankle and foot
  • M10.08 Idiopathic gout, vertebrae
  • M10.09 idiopathic gout, multiple sites

Other areas will require further study before a budget can be put in place. Staff competence in the software and hardware is the first step. After that comes the training of appropriate people on the actual codes.

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