Insurance

Medical coding, specifically the profession of clinical coding, is in high demand. The ever-expanding nature of the healthcare industry due to the aging population, as well as the lack of preventative care undertaken, allows this particular industry to be one of the few growth industries within the United States. Clinical coders are chiefly responsible for transcribing the interventions performed into a universal code.

The great demand for clinical coders encompasses all areas in the health care industry - even those that may not necessarily be thought of. For example, auto insurers greatly rely on clinical coders within their companies, as well as the doctor's offices. Clinical coders also have use in law offices as well. The ability to decode medical information is at a premium.

The reason why insurance companies seek out these professionals is because of the voluminous amounts of medical billing coming through their doors every day. Automobile insurance companies alone receive a vast amount of billing. Clinical coding is specifically related to billing in that insurance companies pay out claims based on a fee schedule. There fee schedule simply places a monetary denomination on any type of medical intervention performed.

Law offices must employ people who are familiar with medical billing as well. Lawyers, especially malpractice lawyers, are in constant review of medical files. There are many doctors and one doctor's description of a procedure may be quite different from another's description of the same procedure. Law firms must employ people who have the ability to understand, decode and translate the information into a universal language so that they can proceed with the case.

There are four specific types of medical coding. These codes vary based on the description of what is being performed or what area of medicine they are relating to. The four are topographical, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and procedural. Each of these has a specific function and furthermore these are all related. They must work in unison for a proper picture of what happened at a medical office when treating a patient.

Diagnostic and procedural determinations are directly related to the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. Diagnostics relate specifically to an ailment or a disease that may be plaguing a patient. Procedurals document what the physician did to alleviate the suffering of that patient. These codes work in unison with the topographical and pharmaceutical codes.

Topographical and pharmaceutical designations are related to diagnostic and procedural coding. Pharmaceutical coding is what's used for doctors when writing prescriptions and pharmacists when filling those prescriptions. This relates to any drugs that may be used in a procedure. Topographical relates to the physiological location of the malady requiring diagnosis and treatment.