During my recent rotation, the attending spent some time explaining to me the differences in coding levels for office billing. As someone who is interested in medical economics, I listened and tried to absorb his wisdom. He enthusiastically delved further into the complexity in billing for medical-decision making, the patient-centered care principles, and other "arts of medicine" topics. By the end of the conversation, I realized there is so much more to learn about practicing medicine than medicine itself.
I recall a visiting rotation where I first had the fortune to be introduced to the complexity of medical coding. During particular rotation, I had ample opportunities to autonomously complete a history and physical exam, write up my SOAP note, and chart all my diagnoses for each patient before I rounded with the attending.
For the most part, my charts were near perfect. Until one day I received an overhead page. I called the extension. The person on the phone verified if I was the person she was looking for and proceeded to explain in details about my charting and my diagnoses which were deemed correct but "not appropriate for coding purposes."
By the end of our conversation, she recommended that I attend a medical coding/billing session, available monthly at the hospital I was at. She said that would help me to improve my understanding of medical diagnoses and billing. I quickly responded that I am "just a visiting medical student." The medical coding educator--I assume that was her title--replied that senior medical students are "highly encouraged" to learn about medical coding/billing and other things related to "good medicine practice." I obliged...reluctantly.
**The original post appeared on Medscape "The Differential" on March 13, 2015.
I recall a visiting rotation where I first had the fortune to be introduced to the complexity of medical coding. During particular rotation, I had ample opportunities to autonomously complete a history and physical exam, write up my SOAP note, and chart all my diagnoses for each patient before I rounded with the attending.
For the most part, my charts were near perfect. Until one day I received an overhead page. I called the extension. The person on the phone verified if I was the person she was looking for and proceeded to explain in details about my charting and my diagnoses which were deemed correct but "not appropriate for coding purposes."
By the end of our conversation, she recommended that I attend a medical coding/billing session, available monthly at the hospital I was at. She said that would help me to improve my understanding of medical diagnoses and billing. I quickly responded that I am "just a visiting medical student." The medical coding educator--I assume that was her title--replied that senior medical students are "highly encouraged" to learn about medical coding/billing and other things related to "good medicine practice." I obliged...reluctantly.
**The original post appeared on Medscape "The Differential" on March 13, 2015.