2012年8月26日 星期日

Medical Coding From Home - Are Medical Coding Jobs at Home Possible?


Is medical coding from home possible? My experience medical coding at home.

With all the opportunities available in the health care field, few are as attractive for working from home as medical coding and medical billing. However as someone who performs medical coding at home, I don't really know how this can be possible without first earning the trust and confidence of the provider you work for. Any medical coding jobs at home you see advertised are typically not legitimate jobs once you investigate.

Good Communication

Medical coding from home is possible if you have a very accommodating employer or provide medical coding services as part of a medical coding and billing business. I perform medical coding from home as part of my medical billing and coding home business. The nature of the work lends itself well to work from home.

Because there are questions regarding patient encounters, it's very important to maintain good communications with the provider. This insures claims can be coded accurately and submitted promptly. When performing medical coding at home, it is very important that all communications be in accordance with the HIPAA privacy standard and HIPAA security standard to maintain patient confidentiality.

If you are knowledgeable on coding, being able to offer billing and coding services is a big plus to a potential client provider. I've found that smaller practices don't just want to just outsource their coding - they also want someone to take care of the billing.

Benefits

The great thing about medical billing jobs from home is the flexibility it allows you to work on your schedule. Not having to clock in to the normal office environment saves time and travel expense. It also allows me to work around my families schedule. However quick turn-around is important to insure claims are coded, entered, and submitted promptly.

Drawbacks

The downside of medical coding from home is that you have to set boundaries and not to let it interfere with your home life. If you have an active business there's a lot going on - Phone calls, in-coming faxes, emails, etc. There's always something that needs to be done. If you are not disciplined, this can intrude with your home and family life.

The Process

In my case, our providers send either audio or written dictation securely to my home office. This is usually sent on a daily schedule and has all the details of the procedures performed on each patient.

I then look up the correct diagnosis code and the applicable CPT treatment codes with necessary modifiers in my coding reference books. For each patient encounter, this information is documented on a super bill and entered into the practice management software from which an electronic claim is generated. The claims are submitted to the clearinghouse who then checks for errors and formats for transmission to the appropriate payer. Some days I may have up to 40 patient encounters to code and submit claims for. As you can see it's very important to stay on top of the coding to prevent getting a large back log of work.

To prevent claim rejection, it's important for the ICD-9 and CPT codes and modifiers be correct. If a doctor isn't very thorough, coding from the doctors dictation or notation can be very time consuming. However once you get to know the provider's preferences and habits, the process goes much more smoothly. I give feedback to the provider so we can make the process work as efficiently as possible.

In summary there are opportunities for medical coding at home due to the nature of the work. However having good communication with an accommodating provider is necessary to be successful.




Gina Wysor has over 10 years experience in the medical billing industry as well as an additional 10 years in the insurance industry. Gina is the owner of a home based medical billing and coding company, Advanced Reimbursement Solutions. Visit http://www.all-things-medical-billing.com for more information on medical billing and coding as a career or business. http://www.all-things-medical-billing.com/medical-billing-business.html has additional information on starting a medical billing business based on Gina's experiences.





This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

沒有留言:

張貼留言