Physicians are concerned that the upcoming transition to ICD-10  is going to be too expensive, according to a June 13 study from the Medical Group Management Association. 95 percent of physician groups said they were concerned about the overall cost of transitioning to ICD-10, with 56 percent of those saying they were "very concerned."   

The average cost per full-time equivalent physician to upgrade or replace a practice management system to function under ICD-10 was $10,000, and $10,000 to upgrade or replace an electronic health record system to process ICD-10 codes, MGMA said.  

When implemented, ICD-10 will increase the number of codes for reporting health care diagnoses and procedures from 13,000 to 68,000. The compliance date is Oct. 1, 2014. The MGMA study said 55 percent of physician groups have not begun ICD-10 implementation efforts, and only 5 percent reported making significant progress toward ICD-10 implementation. Physician groups also reported a lack of communication and coordination with outside vendors over ICD-10 implementation.