Most people have no idea what medical coding is and why it’s essential to improve healthcare outcomes. If you’re a medical coder, have you explained this to your family and friends? If you tell them about it, they’ll probably be really impressed. Or just send them a link to this article!
What is Medical Coding?
Healthcare organizations use medical codes every single day to record the symptoms, conditions, and diseases patients have, what medications they’re taking, what surgeries are performed, and other elements of their experiences. Medical coding is used to compare patient experiences, healthcare outcomes in different hospitals and clinics, and even different countries’ progress in terms of healthcare, so it’s an essential element of
Medical Codes in Research
Coding enables researchers to efficiently and accurately gather medical data without having to look at individual patient files. Medical studies and scientific research depend heavily on the reliability of codes to be able to draw accurate conclusions about current patient experiences with all kinds of diseases including diabetes, various types of cancer, asthma, and more. If researchers can’t figure out what patients are currently dealing with, they can’t come up with solutions to improve issues that arise. Medical codes give researchers one of the most essential tools to work toward improving healthcare worldwide.
The Financial Side of Medical Coding
When medical coding is done well, organizations such as hospitals and clinics can accurately and confidently report about the quality of patient experiences. When potential patients compare hospital and clinic reviews to decide where to seek care, they are always interested in knowing how the organization is performing. If they can clearly see that the organization is serving its patients well, they’re much more likely to seek care there, meaning more income will be generated in the future.
Additionally, later on when medical insurance companies and patients are billed for services performed, it’s absolutely essential that the medical coding be done correctly to ensure the hospital receives adequate funding to continue offering excellent care to patients. If the medical coding is done by inexperienced people who aren’t professional coders, there’s an increased chance that it will be done incorrectly, which could potentially cost hospitals millions of dollars because of inaccurate codes. In today’s capitalistic society, taking care of the financial side of healthcare institutions is frequently intrinsically connected to the level of care patients receive. So medical coding is deeply connected to healthcare outcomes.
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If you’re a coder and would like to join our fantastic team at HCC Coders don’t hesitate to submit your application. Got any questions? Just give us a call at 877-328-2343, email us at info@datafied.com, or click “Contact Us” above.