"ICD-10 coding, with its more robust clinical detail, is essential to efforts to improve quality and the delivery of healthcare services to patients," the Premier letter said.

A study released by the American Academy of Professional Coders and commissioned by 11 professional clinical and laboratory associations, including the American Medical Association, found the typical 10-physician practice would spend $285,240 to switch to ICD-10.

"We are just now beginning to learn the increased costs on physician practices associated with moving to the ICD-10 code set – and they are staggering," said William Jessee, MD, president and CEO of the Medical Group Management Association. "If HHS' proposed 2011 timeframe for implementing ICD-10 goes forward as planned, physician practices will have to cope with a crushing burden of added costs, duplicative systems, and confusion over health insurers' coverage decisions.

"HHS' proposed timeframe is unworkable for patients, physician practices and clinical laboratories and needs to be changed," Jessee said.