As a Medical Coding managed services provider, Nearterm sees a lot of growth in the future of medical coding.

The need for medical coders is expected to grow by 22% between 2012 and 2022, a rate much faster than average for other occupations. Source: CareerStep.

There are four main reasons for this.

• ICD-10 & -11 Codes – The immediate reason are those healthcare organizations which are still behind in their coding for implementing ICD-10. The long term reason is that ICD-11, the revision to ICD-10, is due in 2018.  ICD-11 will be used with electronic health applications and information systems and no doubt medical coding will be needed.

• CPT Codes – CPT coding is similar to ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding, except that it identifies the services rendered rather than the diagnosis on the claim. ICD code sets also contain procedure codes but these are only used in the inpatient setting. CPT code updates occur more frequently than ICD updates. For example, CPT Category III codes are updated every six months.

• The Affordable Care Act (ACA) – The ACA has made an impact on healthcare and healthcare jobs. The most obvious is the influx of Americans now eligible for medical care. That means more people having procedures that coders need to document.

• The Human Factor – Human beings who possesses knowledge of procedure and diagnosis codes (as well as insurance regulations) will always be needed even with all the automation that is happening. It is far too easy for an automated system to incorrectly code what it picks up in a medical document. For example, if a document indicates a patient started to undergo a drug therapy protocol, but therapy was stopped due to developing medical conditions, the system will still likely generate a bill for the therapy. This can cause trouble for the insurance company and add one more difficulty to the patient’s list of worries.

 Medical Coding Managed Services

Nearterm offers managed medical coding services to healthcare organizations, including hospitals, clinics and physician practices. All of our medical coders are certified, vetted, professionally managed and domestic.

• CCS – Certified Coding Specialist Managed
• CIC – Certified Inpatient Coder
• COC – Certified Outpatient Coder
• CPC – Certified Professional Coder
• CPC-P – Certified Professional Coder-Payer
• RHIT – Registered Health Information Technologist
• RHIA – Registered Health Information Administration

Nearterm’s Medical Coding Managed Services help healthcare organizations meet their coding needs as part of our overall 360 RCM Managed Services, including hospitals, clinics and physician practices. We offer a 360 solution from patient access to accounts receivable, including consulting and interim management.

See also: Certified HIM/Medical Coders: Remote or On-Site PDF

Are You Where You Should be at this time for ICD-10?
If you need help, Nearterm RCM Consultants can help with a gap analysis and an action plan. Ask A Nearterm Expert.