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The approaching switch to ICD-10 codes in 2011 has been making physicians and billers nervous for some time now, so the recent news that the compliance deadline has been postponed for two years will come as a relief to many. This change, released as part of a Medicare regulation in the final days of the Bush administration, gives consideration to the high cost of the switch to practices in this current economic downturn. MGMA has estimated the price tag for upgrading to the more extensive, detailed codes to be about $84,000 for a three-physician practice.  MGMA’s cost estimate includes $7,500 in practice management and medical billing software upgrades – although this estimate assumes that physicians are using client-server technology. If you get free upgrades with your Internet-based practice management software, you’ll save that $7,500 instantly. 

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) has been existence in various forms for over a century and was originally designed to help facilitate comparisons in mortality statistics across the world. These days, however, version nine of the ICD is perhaps most familiar as a way to ensure that medical providers are being reimbursed properly for procedures. Across the U.S., medical billers and coders and medical software providers alike are quaking in their boots at the news that  ICD-9 codes are to be replaced with the updated, more comprehensive ICD-10 codes by October 2011.

This change is neither arbitrary nor unexpected; most of the rest of the world is already using ICD-10 codes (World Health Organization member states started using ICD-10 as long ago as 1994), and the update will be a useful tool to increase accuracy as the number of codes available will increase from about 17,000 to 150,000

The transition to ICD-10 will not be a painless one. Apart from the obvious discomfort of adapting to the new codes, there is also the nagging concern about how these changes are going to be incorporated into software. A Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey found that 95 percent of respondents would need to upgrade or replace their practice management software, and almost two-thirds thought they would need to buy code-selection software. Practices and medical billing companies that have invested in medical software that is delivered in “software as a service” (SaaS) format, especially ones such as NueMD that have a built-in coding module, can at least have the comfort of knowing that this major upgrade will be completed remotely with little participation their end. Unfortunately, those with client-server systems may be faced with the prospect of paying a hefty price to update their soon-to-be-obsolete systems.