Medical coding companies can provide you with medical record technicians that are certified in a plethora of services. They can be employed for a temporary period of time to cover a vacant position, perhaps for medical reasons; or they can be placed to fill a permanent need. Either way the need for your office to continue to run efficiently depends of the effective health record management.

Medical records and health information technicians organize and manage health information data. It is essential to your livelihood that this data be accurate, accessible and secure whether you’re currently using a paper system or an electronic medical record system.

For smaller healthcare facilities, the tasks of coding and categorizing patient information for insurance reimbursement purposes, for databases and registries, and maintaining patients’ medical and treatment histories is frequently the sole duties of one or two technicians. However, if there are several physicians practicing or there are a large number of patients it’s necessary to have a staff. Because medical records and health information technicians can specialize in many aspects of health information, several specialized technicians can fill the various requirements.

For instance, most work as medical coders, sometimes called coding specialists. Their responsibilities include:

• Reviewing patient information for preexisting conditions
• Retrieve patient records for medical personnel
• Work as a liaison between the health clinician and billing offices Another common example of the use health record management technicians is for cancer registries. A cancer registrar’s duties frequently include:
• Reviewing patient records and pathology reports for completeness and accuracy
• Assign classification codes to represent the diagnosis and treatment of cancers and benign tumors
• Conduct annual follow-ups to track treatment, survival, and recovery
• Analyze and compile cancer patient information for research purposes
• Maintain facility, regional, and national databases of cancer patients

It would simply be impossible for an oncology center to have just one technician for coding and registry. In this instance you would need at least two medical records and health information technicians, in addition to a medical billing and coding staff.

In some fashion all technicians document patients’ health information, from the medical history, symptoms, examination and test results, to treatments. In addition they are also often required to provide information about the healthcare provider’s services.

Although medical records and health information technicians do not provide direct patient care, they are an integral part of the health care process. Frequently they work with physicians and nurses to clarify diagnoses or to get additional information to make sure that records are complete and accurate.

With the increasing use of electronic health records, (EHR) medical records management is changing. The job responsibilities of these information technicians will also continue to change. Technicians will need to be familiar with, or be able to learn, EHR computer software, follow EHR security and privacy practices, and analyze electronic data to improve healthcare information as more healthcare providers and hospitals adopt EHR systems.

It is more important than ever before that your facility has exceptional people facilitating your medical records management system. In the end it will save you time, money and stress if you employ the right team.

If you would like more information about medical records management or medical coding services, training or job placement, you can call us at 708.747.4361 to speak with a member of our staff about your needs. You can also email us at info@pdnseek.com