Talloju Uday Kumar


10 Things to know more about Medical Coding





Medical coding is one of the most important portions of the health care industry and If the work is appropriate then it will be so efficient and effective but it also helps the physicians and hospitals in proper payment or reimbursement systems respectively.



Here are 10 Things to know more about medical coding:


1. The main support for medical coding is from AAPC known as the American Academy of Professional Coders for continuous education and Certifications.


2. In simple words medical coding means “conversion of healthcare diagnosis, tests, procedures, medical services and equipment used for the patient treatment into standard ICD-10-CM alphanumeric codes”. And to capture all these codes from all kind of documentation from physician’s notes, dieticians notes, radiology results, other medical documentation and laboratory findings.





3. Medical coders usually use standard classification coding systems to assign diagnosis codes, so which includes the International Classification of Diseases and Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM).


4. All Medical coding professionals must capture information from all the medical records available for that visit or claim and assigning appropriate diagnosis codes and procedure codes, as per standards.

If you captured all the codes, then this process involves the hospital and billing department. So, that how much the insurer needs to approve the amount for the care and treatment which helps to determine the status for which patient to be billed.


5. While coding any claim it is the coder's responsibility for accurate coding based on clinical documentation and if the coders are unable to assign correct codes or capture correct codes, which may due to incorrect documentation or lacking documentation, because of that it may be denied.


6. Currently we are using ICD-10 for the past 5 years but which is into discussion nearly about two decades ago and now has been using in the U.S since 2015 October.


7. If you look at the trend for the last 2 years



TIP: The most common medical coding errors were,





Combination Codes,
Unbundling Codes,
Down Coding,
Lack of selecting codes and
Lack of guidance.



8. The average annual salary in the healthcare industry for medical coders is based on experience and the credentials, in which specialty you work, per history Inpatient DRG coders, were paid high when compared to other specialty coders.


9. Most of you have this question that does Medical coders need to have any bachelor’s or master’s degrees separately, But no need for it and they have to have good sound on medical terminology, anatomy, and physiology.





Understanding and analysis of documentation is added advantage for you


10. The main key, if you want to be successful in the medical coding profession then highly recommended continuing education, because which helps all medical professionals to reach the next level. Finally, practical exposure rather than theoretical learning matters a lot.






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