Medical Coding Simplified

Healthcare Insurance in USA: In the United States of America, nearly everyone is covered under some type of insurance. What is the need for this healthcare insurance and how long has insurance been around? Insurance has been around in USA for about 100 years. After the world war II, the initial reason insurance was launched was due to wage freeze brought about by the Federal Govt which prohibited employers from hiking the wages of employees beyond a certain limit to curb inflation. To deviate from this and to offer a better salary package for deserving employees and to entice top performers in the industry, employers offered fringe benefits in the form of insurance. This grew popular and insurance payers sensed the market was set to grow immensely in the future and started investing in it. Some countries offer universal health care. This simply means everyone is covered under the health insurance and so there is no need to worry about medical cost during a sudden medical...

Mayo Cuts Medical Transcriptionists The Mayo Clinic recently gave 400 medical transcriptionists the option of a “voluntary separation package” or pursue another job, according to the Rochester, Minn.  Post-Bulletin . A new electronic health record (EHR) system is forcing the cuts. The healthcare system, which has facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, and other states employs the transcriptionists in several places where most of them transcribe medical notes recorded by providers at home. EHR Taking Over “This is part of a national trend in health care. New tools are reducing the need for transcription services. As a result, the need for medical transcriptionists to convert dictation into written reports is also declining,” said Roshy Didehban, chair of practice administration at Mayo Clinic, told the  Post-Bulletin . “We’ve had honest, ongoing conversations with our staff about this change and are taking steps to help red...

Medical Transcription is transformation of voice files into Medical records. They can either be hard or soft copies. Medical records are the essence of the RCM process. Whenever a patient and doctor encounter takes place, a record needs to be generated and all information pertaining to that visit needs to be captured. The records may be office visits, hospital discharges, or even Emergency Room visits. All the specialties are covered. These records need to be maintained for Insurance purposes. The insurance or third party payors will release the payment for the doctor’s services once they receive these medical charts. Normally, the doctor’s secretary used to do this job. Slowly over time, the doctors started using Dictaphones and the voice files or dictations were recorded and the secretaries can transcribe at any time. With the advent of Internet, this job started flowing out of hospitals and clinics into transcription services which were located outside the hospitals or cl...

While “reduce, reuse, recycle” is a popular mantra among conservationists, it also may apply to medical transcriptionists (MTs). The spread of Internet has reshaped how transcription is performed, and the traditional methods have become obsolete!  Sporting a diverse skill set while facing dwindling opportunities in their chosen profession, some MTs have taken steps to remedy what appears to be a dicey future by transitioning into the Medical Coding arena. Although not for every MT, with the right training, attitude, and experience, it is possible to make a successful transition from transcription to coding. Of course those hoping to change over must re-adapt, upgrade themselves! Joining a good coding training course will help. As MTs already have many skills that translate well to coding, though they must master how to research codes, understand the basics, and practice relentlessly. “Their knowledge level is already wonderful; it is a matter of learning the art of coding,” ...