Family Practice Coding

Family medical practices are faced with more challenges than ever before due to fewer numbers of practitioners in this specific field, new complexities in reporting and claims administration, and the increasing needs of patients. These pressures are compounded by necessary changes in clinical documentation, administrative requirements, regulatory measures, medical coding needs, and the challenges that they present for the family practitioner.

medical coding services quote

New guidelines and expectations for reporting and coding family practice procedures require an extensive overhaul of data recording and reporting measures. With the implementation of ICD-10 there are drastic changes to documentation standards and adjustments that must be made in reporting and coding in terms of changes in definitions and terminology, and increased specificity. Most aspects of care are influenced in some manner including the way that vaccines are reported and coded in addition to general office visits, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, injury and accidents, abdominal pain, and more. Physicians can also now report “underdosing” that expresses causation when a patient is not taking medicine as prescribed.

Family practices are unique in the wide range of care and diagnostic treatments that are provided, which increases the demand on coders to be highly specific, thorough, and precise in their coding abilities. It is wise to consider the level of experience and knowledge of the medical practice that a coder possesses when assigning these all important duties. For example, an office-based medical coder may have an exemplary record coding for dermatology, podiatry, or perhaps a cardiology; but family practices require a completely different set of concepts, terminology, and a wider range of anatomical understanding. Coding expectations have a higher level of complexity and are more precise than in the past.

Outsourcing Family practice coding responsibilities gives physicians and office managers time to focus on the practice itself, including keeping up to date on the many nuances of care and documentation that is required on their end. Certified, specialty-trained medical coders are adept at handling the many facets of your family medical practice.

Our highly qualified medical coders can perform at a level that far outperforms most office-based coders due to their outstanding knowledge base, experience, and our ability to deliver a constant and consistent work product without distraction. Outsourcing coding duties relieves the practice of the pressure to constantly update and re-train office coders, reduce backlogs, collect payments in a more-timely manner, reduce claim denials and incomplete claims, and ensures due diligence and compliance.