Cardiology practices are continually challenged with the Medical Coding. Coders need to be able to transcribe physician notes and code with a high degree of accuracy. Failure to do so can affect patient outcomes and reimbursements, both of which can be devastating.
In order to optimize Medical coding in a cardiology practice, consider the following factors:
- Automate the errors where You Can: Human error is the greatest enemy of accuracy when it comes to coding. When trying to manually record long codes with both numbers and letters, however, it’s easy to make a mistake that can cause claim denials or incorrect reimbursements. To bypass these types of errors, automate coding wherever you can and try to eliminate the need for double data entry.
- Sure about Your Coding Knowledge Is Current: Most of the medical coding and billing software updates automatically to reflect the most current coding guidelines. These can be extremely tough to keep up on if you have office staff that’s trying to stay up-to-date using books. But, be sure to keep the most current books on hand for review purposes and make sure that staff members are reviewing updates to keep their knowledge current, even if only for back-up purposes.
- Don’t Spend enough time on the Documentation: Failure to completely document the events of a patient visit can alter the code that is entered and the reimbursement that’s ultimately paid. When in doubt, it’s always better to document more than less.
- Determine Multiple check points: It can help to have multiple eyes on codes in order to spot errors. Having staff members, doctors, nurses, and those doing the billing and coding all double checking documentation and coding can help to reduce the likelihood that an error will be missed or that a non-specific code that can be made more specific will go unchanged.
If your cardiology practice could be benefit from medical billing and coding services, call us today +1(302) 613-1356