Tips To Improve Your Medical Coding Process

Do you see a lot of patients every day at your hospital or doctor's office? If the paperwork is stacking up, you've probably at least considered (or already started) using a medical coder to help you stay organized. A professional coder helps hospitals and other health care organizations keep track of a patient's various aliments and treatments so that the file is up to date the next time they come in for care. If even after hiring one or more medical coders, you feel like the paperwork is still bogging you down, here are some tips that might help.

Can You Get the Paperwork to the Coder Faster?

Take a look at the entire process of what takes place with a patient's paperwork from the time they come to see you to the moment a medical coder receives their file. In some cases, coders may only be receiving certain reports while those from other departments are lagging behind. A medical coder can't complete an accurate review of the records until they have every last piece of documentation in front of them. This could cause work to back up and a delay to your otherwise timely record keeping. 

If there often delays with specific departments, look at what is going on and see if there are best practices you can adopt from other areas of your hospital to get things moving again. The faster all of the paperwork arrives, the faster your coders can do their jobs and move on to the next set of records.

Move the Coders to a Secure Location

Medical coding requires going through a lot of files quickly. Any interruption from another employee is going to throw your coders off of their flow. If you frequently have people delivering new files to the coders as they come in, this could be a new interruption every time a new file arrives. 

Instead, why not put your coders inside a locked or more remote area where they will not be interrupted? Doctors or nurses or other orderlies who are delivering files to the coders can be instructed to put the new files outside the room in a special mailbox. The coders can then collect the new files at a certain time, allowing them to stay focused without as many interruptions.

For Best Results, Consider Technology

Today, more and more hospitals are turning to medical coding solutions provided by technology. These software programs can help the coders do their jobs much more efficiently. Other individuals may be able to upload new files for the coders directly into the software, eliminating the need for a hand delivery of a paper copy.

Contact a coding solutions expert today for more information.


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