HCC Coders helps health plan organizations raise Medicare Advantage reimbursement rates
HCC Coders helps health plan organizations raise Medicare Advantage reimbursement ratesHCC Coders is an independent coding services company offering assistance with staffing and software. We make it easy for health plan organizations to receive their full Medicare Advantage reimbursements by providing whatever level of assistance they may require to ensure accurate and complete HCC and ICD9 coding.
What Are HCC and ICD9 Codes?
HCC and ICD9 codes are part of a risk adjustment system set up by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The goal of the system is to compensate providers of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans fairly by adjusting enrollees’ payments based on demographics and health status.
There are over 3,000 ICD9 codes, which represent diagnoses of various needs and conditions. These codes are grouped together into about 70 categories called HCC codes or Hierarchical Condition Category codes.
Why is HCC and ICD9 Coding Important?
HCC and ICD9 coding must be completed each year in order to maintain an accurate picture of the needs of the population being served by the health plan organization. If the coding is incomplete or incorrect, the health plan organization will not receive their full reimbursements. Some experts estimate that the average health plan organization could increase their reimbursement rates by 20 percent through the use of coding. To put that another way, following best practices in coding could result in reimbursements of up to $2,000 more per Medicare patient life.
What Do HCC Coders do?
HCC coders help take the burden off of doctors and health plan organization staff by handling HCC and ICD9 coding activities for them. Doctors may not always have time to note the complete ICD9 codes on each patient chart, but as long as the diagnosis is clearly stated an HCC coding professional can select the correct code and input it into the reporting tool. HCC coders can work from home or from the health plan provider’s office because they typically use an online software portal to input the codes taken from patient charts and other documentation.
What is the Role of the HCC Coders Company?
HCC Coders maintains a database of highly trained, pre-screened HCC coding professionals who are available to assist health plan providers with their HCC and ICD9 coding. These HCC coders are available to work part time, full time, or on a per project basis in order to help make sure the coding work gets completed on time. Using HCC Coders for all their coding staffing needs helps health plan providers avoid costly delays in processing codes, as well as improve coding accuracy and raise reimbursements.