ICD-10 transition will bankrupt physicians

Presently electronic health records are a bust. They have decreased doctor-patient face time, promoted cookie-cutter medicine, caused worsened communication between physicians by biasing [in favor of] the volume and not the essentials of data transmitted.

Present systems decrease patient interaction time and require time-consuming data entry by the person whose time is the most critical in the office, the physician. Anyone saving money? I doubt it. I could go on and on.

Now to add insult to injury ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases-10th revision) comes along and further extends the time required to complete a patient visit by totally changing reimbursement coding.

Physicians are definitely not happy, so don’t be surprised if many call it quits or go bankrupt in three months trying to make this transition. Bad times are coming.

D.M. Hopper, MD

Oxford, Alabama