In February, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Designed to jump start the economy out of a recession, the bill allocated $20 billion in funds as incentives to promote EHR adoption by the health care industry. The term electronic health record (EHR) is a close synonym with electronic medical record (EMR). The vision of EHR is to modernize health care by digitizing health records, lowering costs, and increasing efficiency and accuracy.
EHR comprises many different aspects of health care information management. One key component of health care management is the proper record keeping of health care activities to promote accurate medical claims billing and to avoid claims being denied by the insurance companies. Accurate medical coding promotes efficient medical billing and appropriate reimbursement, keys to smooth office or hospital operations.
With health care costs outpacing inflation, health care organizations face increasing pressure to manage costs. Insurance companies are not immune to these pressures and are getting more restrictive on their reimbursements for claims. EHR offers standardized practices and automated processes that improve the accuracy of medical coding in the health care industry.
The medical coding industry has been transitioning to electronic solutions for several years. Still, some organizations have not made the leap. Professional medical coders know that medical coding software is a better alternative to relying on large coding reference books that need to be updated regularly. Often, several reference books may need to be consulted to code a medical procedure correctly. This process is time consuming and cumbersome. An electronic medical office software solution eliminates this problem and can provide superior online searching capabilities not possible with reference books.
The medical coder needs to work with a variety of coding systems. For example, health care common procedure codes (HCPCS) are special codes used for Medicare patients. HCPCS are based on current procedure codes (CPT®). Unlike HCPCS and CPT®, which are used to classify medical procedures, International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) describe diseases and related health problems. With the diversity and scope of known diseases and the procedures that treat them (and more being discovered every day), medical coding software’s ability to provide browsing and searching of these complex coding systems greatly aid the medical coder.
Medical office software, especially online medical coding software, provides more accuracy for the medical coder. Medical codes are always being updated and it is important to use the most recent updates. Outdated codes can cause claims to be rejected and denied, which results in re-work. In 2013, ICD-9 codes will be replaced an updated ICD-10 code set. This transition is a major overhaul and that requires planning. The medical offices that already use online medical billing and coding software will have a much easier transition because a bulk of the work will be handled by the software vendor.
The health care industry is an increasingly important player in the nation’s economy. Medical coders play an important role in facilitating smooth systems operations. By transitioning to medical billing software solutions, medical coders have better tools at their disposal to help modernize billing practices while improving the quality of care delivered.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.
