With all of today’s ever-expanding technology, considering all the advances in medical, pharmaceutical and treatments available to physicians, patients and consumers alike, today’s digital age is moving faster than ever. Busy medical professionals, practitioners and their staff are now opting to outsource medical coding and billing procedures in order to relieve overwhelmed physicians and their staff of this growing responsibility and stress which takes them away from patient care.
The Release of ICD-10
Medical practitioners and staff are already aware that ICD-9, (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision) is the most currently recognized and recent release of the system standard for reporting medical diagnoses and in-patient procedures for billing purposes. But this will all change in October of 2015 with the up-and-coming release of ICD-10.
This update will take the existing, just shy of 4,000 procedure codes and just over 14,000 diagnosis codes that are applicable today, to an unprecedented new level. These current and recognizable submissions will come in short of 72,000 and 70,000 coding choices available respectively. This tremendous addition of options and choices will have many providers and staff members scrambling to learn all these new codes and understanding their intricacies. Most of them will find themselves in serious need of certified, professional coders.
Errors, Omissions and Delays
The medical community is already well-versed with these billing practices, and the introduction of so many new codes will also have a plus side, according to Brad Justus, client development director at Kforce Healthcare. He states, “ICD-10 will provide the coder with so much more description to their coding and provide them with an almost unlimited way in which to describe encounters and hospital stays.”
“But these types of transitions aren’t without problems, since the implementation date of ICD-10 has already been pushed back numerous times. But the increased amounts of coding sets means many coders must deal with dual and multiple coding issues. Sometimes this can take a lot of extra time and increase delays in payment,” says Manny Oliverez, CEO of Capture Billing.
“I believe the rush will come thirty days after ICD-10 is implemented this year,” Oliverez comments. “This is when doctors will panic because they are not getting reimbursed by insurance providers due to inaccurate coding. This time is when the real scramble for coders will happen.”
The time to look for professional medical coders is sooner rather than later. Seeking professional help today, rather than waiting until tomorrow, will keep you, your staff, insurance providers and patients stress free. Payments will come in timely more-often, the transition process will go more smoothly and many hiccups will be avoided.
To explore the best offers in affordable, outside medical coding and billing options available to you and your valuable medical practice, at reasonable rates, please contact us today. We can review the many options you have at your disposal and provide professional and confidential solutions.
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