Wiki What would you do?

[btadlock1]

I have the rare opportunity to make a difference in our coding and billing processes, and I've thought of some of the things that I think should be addressed, but I want to get some thoughts from other people with different perspectives...(and not a gripe-fest, please!)
So I have 3 questions...(pick one, or answer them all...I'll take all of it!)

If you were given the chance to make some changes to improve the whole documentation/coding/billing process, what would you do?

What would you want better training in? (Or if you don't need training, what kind of training do you wish you had gotten?)

If things are running somewhat smoothly in your place of business, to what do you attribute your office/company's success?

 

[jdibble]

I have the rare opportunity to make a difference in our coding and billing processes, and I've thought of some of the things that I think should be addressed, but I want to get some thoughts from other people with different perspectives...(and not a gripe-fest, please!)
So I have 3 questions...(pick one, or answer them all...I'll take all of it!)

If you were given the chance to make some changes to improve the whole documentation/coding/billing process, what would you do?

What would you want better training in? (Or if you don't need training, what kind of training do you wish you had gotten?)

If things are running somewhat smoothly in your place of business, to what do you attribute your office/company's success?

1. To improve documentation I would make it a requirement for all physicians to take a class in how to correctly document for E/M and surgical procedures and what information is required. I would also make sure that they continue to take refreshers in this as even when they improve their documentation I find that they eventually slip back into old habits.

2. I think that better training in how to read surgical reports for correct code selection would have helped. This would include examples of typical surgeries of all specialties and all of the codes that would be included in that scenario on a typical basis. When a coder is just beginning or has switched to specialty they are not familiar with it can be confusing trying to make sure you are capturing all of the procedures that can be billed.

3. When things work smoothly in our business it is attributed to the cohesivness of our employees. Working together towards the same goal makes thinks move along smoothly - even when each day throws you a curve ball!

Thanks,

 

[btadlock1]

Thank you for the feedback!

Physician training is one of my priorities in this. I'm not sure how I'll go about doing it yet - I want to get a better view of where our problem areas are before I develop a plan. Thanks!