Significance of medical coding in healthcare industry

Introduction to medical coding

When a patient visits the clinic, the language and procedures of treatment evolve after an encounter with a doctor and are converted into alphanumeric codes which are known as medical coding. In simple words, medical coding refers to the process of applying generic alphanumeric numbers to the healthcare services supplied, such as medical diagnoses, treatments, services, and equipment. The diagnostic and procedure codes are assigned by a medical coder using the patient's medical record, which includes records like doctor's notes, test results, and listings of services.

To create a claim that can be submitted to payers, the process of medical coding comprises abstracting the medical information from the available paperwork, assigning the proper diagnosis and procedure codes, and creating the claim. Medical coding companies bring a huge transformation in the health industry. With the help of certain coding for specific diagnoses, treatments, and lab results doctors can easily understand patient medical information. Because these medical codings are not limited to certain boundaries, it is shared and universal. For instance, if I suffered from stomach pain, the coding generated for stomach pain in Virginia will be the same as in California.

Why medical coding

Sometimes it is difficult to understand and maintain patient medical reports which contain worthy data regarding their medical history, diagnosis, prescriptions, lab results, and future treatment plans. With the help of medical coding, all sensitive medical data is converted into certain universal medical codes. By doing so, hospitals smartly manage huge data related to the number of patients.

Coding assists doctors in reading patients' reports. While studying detailed reports of patients, physicians consume their time, to cut a long story short, medical coding facilitates them by simplifying detailed reports into specific coding. Doctors can easily glance at the reports and gave more time to the patient's treatment instead of reading their detailed reports.

Coding additionally makes it possible for medical facilities to document consistently. For instance, the code for a test result for haemoglobin is the same in Los Angeles as well as in Hawaii. Because of the efficiency of research and analysis made possible by standardized data, the government and health organizations can follow health trends much more effectively. For instance, the CDC can look for the number of cancer diagnoses by looking for the ICD-CA-125 code and analyze the prevalence of cancer using that information.

Furthermore, coding enables administrators to assess the accessibility and efficacy of treatment inside their facility. Large medical facilities like hospitals should pay particular attention to this. Medical facilities can track the effectiveness of their practice by examining data similar to that used by government agencies to assess, for example, the prevalence of a particular disease.

Healthcare industry and medical coding

The significance of coding in the healthcare industry cannot be denied. Like translating, medical coding is somewhat similar. When patients encounter medical professionals every procedure carried out to facilitate the patient is noted down and sent to medical coders. Coders receive medical reports from physicians, which contain information on the patient's condition, the physician's diagnosis, a prescription, and any operations the physician or other healthcare provider carried out on the patient, and convert them into a set of codes that comprise an essential component of the medical claim.

Medical coding also facilitates revenue cycle management. In hospitals payments, claims and bills generate under the revenue cycle management companies. It would not be able to do so if, we exclude medical coding companies. In the revenue cycle management, the billing section needs medical coding to generate claims for the services provided by the hospital. Receiving proper and accurate coding helps in identifying the exact charges for the medical service provided by healthcare to the patient. In short, from translating medical language into coding to helping out in maintaining revenue cycle management, the healthcare industry solely relies on medical coding companies.

Conclusion

Medical coding is the process of extracting data about a patient's medical care, such as medical procedures, diagnoses, information about necessary medical equipment, and data about medical services, from the doctor's notes. An expert in medical coding converts this data into standard alphanumeric codes for medical use. Hence, we cannot be denied the significance of medical coding in the healthcare industry due to its several smart uses.

Jennifer Skyes is content writer and a freelance blogger. Her published work can be tracked from https://bellmedex.com