Your 2015 ICD-10 budget
More staffing needed to deal with productivity, claims management and software upgrades after the October 2015 deadline
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 issues
These 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.
