When hospital CFOs confront ICD-10, one of the biggest questions that arises is: What will the price tag be for the hospital to convert to ICD-10?
There is no silver bullet for this answer, as the costs will vary from hospital to hospital, depending on size, staff and other variable factors. Wendy Coplan-Gould, founder and president of coding consulting firm HRS, has conducted readiness assessments at several hospitals across the country, and she can give one certain answer: It will be expensive.
The costs of ICD-10 can range from $1 million for health information management upgrades alone to upwards of $42 million for a complete rollout. “These are the extremes,” Ms. Coplan-Gould says. “But if I were a hospital CFO, I have to find the minutiae in terms of gathering data. Who’s going to be affected, and who needs training? It’s an arduous process.”
Here, Ms. Coplan-Gould outlines five areas of ICD-10 implementation that will impact a hospital’s budget.