Certified Medical Coding Service is the
process used through which the descriptions of medical diagnoses and procedures
are converted into universal bits of numbers, known as "codes". These
codes are numeric and alphanumeric designations that depict the descriptions of
injuries, diseases and other health care procedures used in the medical field.
Medical
coding has emerged as an important field of medical sciences. It allows access
to different healthcare records in terms of procedures as well as diagnoses,
which can then be used for diverse purposes such as research, education and
clinical care. The many uses of this field include:
1. Identification of symptoms to be
evaluated, alerting other professionals in the healthcare field to different
life threatening situations and allergies,
2. Comparing different facilities and
also planning for new services, and
3. Helping out with administration
function, which may include scheduling, staffing, adding services, reporting
reimbursement information, and more.
Medical
coding can be classified into four major types, which include Diagnostic codes,
Procedural codes, Pharmaceutical codes and Topographical codes. Diagnostic
codes are used for diseases, symptoms, disorders, medical signs as well as
human response patterns. The procedural codes are used to identify the specific
interventions by medical professionals. Pharmaceutical codes, on the other
hand, are used for identification of medications. Lastly, topographical codes
are used to indicate a specific body location.
The
main use of medical coding is for insurance purposes, where it is used for
financial reimbursement from insurance companies. It helps in identification of
codes and thus has the potential of displaying the entire history of the
patient and also the services that were performed on him/her. The physician's
note is converted into medical codes, which is then used by the insurance
companies that make payment to the health care provider accordingly.
Medical
Coding is a growing industry and has a huge potential. It has grown as an
offshoot of the medical and technological industry as large databases and micro
computers are used to manage all the coding work. It has also emerged as a
lucrative professional field, which is popularly outsourced because of many
different reasons. Medical coders are in high demand and need a specialized
qualification in order to be able to work as a medical coder. Several third
world countries have specialized outsourcing agencies for medical coding that
provide services to companies abroad. That way, insurance companies and other
firms requiring coding data benefit from the cost advantage of outsourcing, as
they utilize cheaper medical coder services from these countries.
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