Purpose and Importance of Medical Coding
Physicians provide services to patients and
want reimbursement for what they do. An industry journal recently
reported a nationwide shortage of medical coders. Why? The health
care system has become complicated. Knowledge is more important than
ever. Medical office personnel years ago could simply open a code
book, place a code on an insurance form and submit it for payment.
In addition to medical reimbursement, coding is used for planning and
research. Investigators may track diseases. Administrators may
determine if a hospital’s facilities are being used effectively
and if they are adequate for the needs of the community.
The medical reimbursement process includes descriptions of procedures and
services the physician provides. As you can imagine, these would be
terribly long and confusing left in narrative form. Someone was wise
enough to realize that. They devised a system of code numbers
representing each procedure and service a physician is likely to
provide and another to represent each disease, disorder or injury.