Medical Billing and Medical Coding Changes and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

In February, President Obama signed theprovide superior online searching capabilities not
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ofpossible with reference books.
2009. Designed to jump start the economy outThe medical coder needs to work with a variety
of a recession, the bill allocated $20 billion in fundsof coding systems. For example, health care
as incentives to promote EHR adoption by thecommon procedure codes (HCPCS) are special
health care industry. The term electronic healthcodes used for Medicare patients. HCPCS are
record (EHR) is a close synonym with electronicbased on current procedure codes (CPT®).
medical record (EMR). The vision of EHR is toUnlike HCPCS and CPT®, which are used to
modernize health care by digitizing health records,classify medical procedures, International Statistical
lowering costs, and increasing efficiency andClassification of Diseases (ICD-9) describe
accuracy.diseases and related health problems. With the
EHR comprises many different aspects of healthdiversity and scope of known diseases and the
care information management. One keyprocedures that treat them (and more being
component of health care management is thediscovered every day), medical coding software's
proper record keeping of health care activities toability to provide browsing and searching of these
promote accurate medical claims billing and tocomplex coding systems greatly aid the medical
avoid claims being denied by the insurancecoder.
companies. Accurate medical coding promotesMedical office software, especially online medical
efficient medical billing and appropriatecoding software, provides more accuracy for the
reimbursement, keys to smooth office or hospitalmedical coder. Medical codes are always being
operations.updated and it is important to use the most
With health care costs outpacing inflation, healthrecent updates. Outdated codes can cause claims
care organizations face increasing pressure toto be rejected and denied, which results in
manage costs. Insurance companies are notre-work. In 2013, ICD-9 codes will be replaced an
immune to these pressures and are getting moreupdated ICD-10 code set. This transition is a
restrictive on their reimbursements for claims.major overhaul and that requires planning. The
EHR offers standardized practices and automatedmedical offices that already use online medical
processes that improve the accuracy of medicalbilling and coding software will have a much easier
coding in the health care industry.transition because a bulk of the work will be
The medical coding industry has been transitioninghandled by the software vendor.
to electronic solutions for several years. Still, someThe health care industry is an increasingly
organizations have not made the leap. Professionalimportant player in the nation's economy. Medical
medical coders know that medical codingcoders play an important role in facilitating smooth
software is a better alternative to relying on largesystems operations. By transitioning to medical
coding reference books that need to be updatedbilling software solutions, medical coders have
regularly. Often, several reference books maybetter tools at their disposal to help modernize
need to be consulted to code a medical procedurebilling practices while improving the quality of care
correctly. This process is time consuming anddelivered.
cumbersome. An electronic medical officeCPT is a registered trademark of the American
software solution eliminates this problem and canMedical Association.