This is post 3 of a 10 post series on the top 10 reasons you should consider outsourcing your coding.
The ICD-10 transition is daunting for providers and physicians nationwide. The ICD-9 coding guidelines include a set of about 17,000 codes. Once ICD-10 is implemented on October 1st, 2015 there will be a whopping 140,000 codes. That is more than 8 times the amount of codes! This increase in diagnosis and procedure codes will unquestionably be accompanied by a decrease in medical coders productivity. Denials will increase and revenue will decrease. Let me repeat that for emphasis, ICD-10 will have a negative impact on your revenue. The question on the minds of thousands of healthcare professionals is how to minimize the impact.
There are many factors to consider when hiring in-house coding staff that quickly add up and will become a burden on your facility. The expenses begin with the employee’s base salary and benefits. In addition to payroll, don’t forget about the cost of tangible and intangible assets including computers and software licensing. In addition, the ICD-10 deadline’s quick approach will incur extensive training solution costs. As the CFO, VP of Revenue Cycle, Practice Manager, or any other position responsible for the financial well being of the company, how can you accurately forecast costs for something as large and unknown as the ICD-10 implementation? On the other hand, outsourcing your coding to a professional medical coding services company like Aviacode simplifies and reduces your coding costs. The ability to forecast becomes simply knowing a price per chart. Don’t let your in-house coding solutions become a detriment to your revenue cycle. The ability to reduce costs is currently, and will continue to be one of the best reasons to work with an outsourced medical coding provider.
