Medical billing and coding are essentially a core task in a healthcare organization. Physicians in hospitals, nursing homes, individual practice clinics, emergency care centers or other healthcare organizations are busy with important life-saving medical care to be provided to their patients. But without efficient medical billing and coding, they cannot get paid for their services from the insurance provider. Medical coding must be done accurately too, or else the healthcare practice would be faced with denied claims.
What Constitutes Coding Process?
The medical coding process is very important and there are some guidelines in place for physicians to follow. The AMA (American Medical Association) recommends that physicians and coding professionals should work together so that the patient’s diagnosis and treatment are recorded accurately. The physician has ultimate responsibility for the codes that are selected and then billed.
According to the AMA’s recommendation, the physician must provide the correct CPT and ICD-9-CM codes to start the process. The code selections must then be reviewed by the coding professional and this must be based on the medical record documentation. Effective communication between the coding professionals and physicians is very essential for making the reporting process more efficient and ensuring a measure of quality control.
How Outsourcing Helps
Outsourcing medical coding to a reliable company really helps because the coding company co-ordinates all these tasks. Physicians may not be fully aware of the various steps and the repercussions of not following them. A medical coding company, however, covers all these services. It can ensure that all steps are taken according to the AMA’s instructions which are ultimately designed to minimize risks of denied claims.
Services of a Medical Coding Company
A reliable medical coding service provider typically provides solutions such as:
- In-patient or hospital coding
- E-code evaluation of emergency room
- Medical coding auditing
- Backlog coding resolution
- DRG/ICD-9-CM coding validations
- Ambulatory Surgical Centers Coding (ASCs)
- AMA and CMS-based ICD-9 coding
With the services of an efficient medical coding service provider, physicians and other healthcare entities can focus on giving quality care to their patients and rest assured that their claims will be successfully processed for maximum reimbursement.
