Importance of Proper Coding - Essay Example

Coding plays an important role in the provision of government statistics. This comes to play during the budgeting of a country’s medical care, as the correct statistics are provided. For example, the government officials are aware of medications given, the number of people that passed on may be because of certain diseases. It also offers a road map for the formulation of medical strategies that will help a nation curb vital illnesses. In addition, proper coding is important in ensuring that patients are forced to pay for the care they did not receive. Medical practitioners and insurance organizations can have a common understanding of the services provided and thus, the correct charges are made and paid (Capstone, 2010).

The role of Nurses and Nurse Practitioners in Coding

Nurses are an essential part of the practice of medical care. They help in service delivery and assist doctors in a number of ways. They are often in contact with patients; this aspect of their work enables them to understand the patients more and offer them the necessary services. It also equips them with first-hand information on the type of care the patients need in reference to their illness. This enables them to code the diagnosis appropriately. Moreover, before a patient is referred to a doctor, it is the duty of the nurse to offer first-hand services, which puts the nurses in an appropriate position to identify the type of care to be given to the patient (Shi & Singh, 2010).

Additionally, being the ones to provide complete reports about patients to the doctors, nurses are professionally equipped and familiar with the importance of proper coding for record-keeping. It is usually the responsibility of the nurses to offer comprehensive medical care; therefore, they have a duty to ensure the coding is appropriate to avoid discharging the patients. They also proffer accurate records for medication for the patient to the necessary authorities. For instance, they identify the appropriate medication by accessing the medical history of the patient and making basic adjustments.     

Importance of Documentation to the Coding Process

            Record keeping for every medical service rendered to patients is important. Documentation provides an explanation for the inevitability of treatment offered. Additionally, it helps in the billing process of the treatment offered by availing a record of the treatment given. Also, it helps in ensuring that patients are not overcharged, this especially assists in the reimbursement of insurance services as companies are given a record of the treatment given to the patient and this helps in deducting the payments to be made. This is most essential in the conducting of the organization’s reviews, as they provide evidence for the payments made.

            Moreover, documentation has been of great assistance to medical practitioners. This is because it provides a basis for a defense in instances where patients refuse to pay because of claims of unnecessary treatment offered. There are times when patients and insurance companies claim the coding made on their record was overly inappropriate and refuse to pay for the treatment. Documentation of the records enables the medical practitioners to appeal as it provides evidence of the treatments rendered (Wilson, 2010).