No Coder..

[SCPA]

Is it common for independent rural health clinics to not have a coder? Recent clinic I visited, the nurses were inputting all the of icd/cpt codes without anyone reviewing the charts/coding. Said clinic also claims to be very tight financially. Seems like hiring a coder would pay for itself many times over, but I'm not that versed on the business side of medicine... Thoughts? 

[jmj11]

I certainly think in large institutions with multiple providers, that a coder would play a vital role. However, in a smaller space, it is really the provider's responsibility to code correctly. I have a biller coder now, but I had to learn the codes at a much higher level than she could know. I code correctly when I see the patient. Sometimes I have to explain the codes to her. But this comes from owning my own practice where I had to know the ins and outs of coding.

[EMEDPA]

I work at several large facilities where providers do the coding(which makes no sense) and several tiny facilities that hire a coder(which makes sense). a coder pays for themselves several times over. it makes no sense to have clinicians do coding or to have coders provide medical care. see what I did there...:)

[jmj11]

I work at several large facilities where providers do the coding(which makes no sense) and several tiny facilities that hire a coder(which makes sense). a coder pays for themselves several times over. it makes no sense to have clinicians do coding or to have coders provide medical care. see what I did there...:)

But to code correctly, you have to understand what the provider is really doing in the room. Most coders don't unless the provider teaches them the indosynrirasies of each procedure and associated codes (for example; payment per injection site or with a bilateral modifier). I still think if you are talking about CPT / ICD 10, the provider with a couple of clicks of a button can get the maximum payment for each procedure. The biller / coder, of course, needs to be the one doing the footwork to track down payments but I would never trust her to know what I really did in the room.

[rev ronin]

I code my own stuff in family med, most of which is totally straightforward, but am conversant with modifiers and CPT coding, not just E&M.  From what I hear, I'm blowing away my peers in terms of the level of stuff I code, but I've always been one who likes understanding the nuances of stupidly complex systems: I used to play Star Fleet Battles for fun, for any of you who know anything about what that entails.