Published on the Sept. 24., 2015 DiagnosticImaging.com website
By Whitney L.J. Howell
When it comes right down to it, radiology isn’t that big of a player in the rapidly approaching ICD-10 implementation. The industry accounts for a mere 3% of submitted claims – at most. But, that doesn’t mean its impact on radiologists isn’t going to be significant.
On average, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology, the number of commonly-used codes will grow by nearly six-fold for most of radiology, but musculoskeletal imaging faces a far heftier load – a nearly 29-fold ballooning. So, whether you’re a musculoskeletal subspecialist working in an academic medical center or a general radiologist who happens to see a lot of musculoskeletal cases, you need to be prepared for a big change.
Regardless of the services you’re providing, it’s imperative that you’re ready for the new, code-heavy system that goes into effect on Oct. 1 – less than a week away, said Richard Duszak, MD, vice chair for health policy and practice in Emory University’s radiology and imaging sciences department.
“If you’ve prepared, the switch to ICD-10 will be like Y2K,” said Duszak, who is also lead author on the JACR study. “You’ll just boot up your computer, and everything will come up like normal.”
The cost of not being ready, however, is considerable. For a large practice with at least 100 providers, the price tag of lost productivity and payment disruption could total between $2 million and $8 million, he said. Even small practices with roughly three providers could lose up to $230,000.
To read the remainder of the article at its originial location: http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/practice-management/procrastinators-guide-icd-10
