When you receive your doctor杏吧专区檚 bill in the mail, it may look like you have a math problem instead of a health problem. Every diagnosis and service rendered at your appointment is listed in detail along with a series of numbers that may as well be a foreign language.
These numbers - known as diagnostic codes - aren杏吧专区檛 chosen randomly by the doctor杏吧专区檚 office to confuse patients. They are, in fact, very important in charting your problem and may be even more important in figuring out how much of the cost your insurance provider will cover.
UL Lafayette faculty members Anita Hazelwood and Carol Venable know all about this coding system. They know the set of numbers for an appendectomy. They know the set of numbers if you break your big toe.
They also know how to explain this code to Health Information Management professionals in a manner that is easy to understand. Two of their recent training manuals garnered each a Legacy Award from the American Health Information Management Association for doing just that - providing informative information and ideas in a clear, concise manner.
杏吧专区淏oth of their recent publications are an easy read for office employees while maintaining appropriateness for HIM course instruction,杏吧专区 according to the AHIMA. Industry professionals agree and have made these training manuals top sellers in the HIM field.
杏吧专区淚n order for health information management professionals to use the coding system, they must understand the guidelines that have to be applied,杏吧专区 said Hazelwood, HIM associate professor. 杏吧专区淭hey杏吧专区檝e got to know the coding system and why you pick one code over another. Our manuals explain these guidelines and give examples of the most often occurring cases of miscoding.杏吧专区
Venable explained that proper coding is a necessity for correct insurance reimbursement. 杏吧专区淪o much of insurance reimbursement is tied to coding,杏吧专区 said Venable. 杏吧专区淧roper coding ensures proper payment and helps prevent billing fraud.杏吧专区
Hazelwood and Venable received Legacy Awards during the association杏吧专区檚 annual Triumph Awards ceremony for ICD-9-CM Diagnostic Coding and Reimbursement for Physician Services and Basic ICD-9-CM for Physician杏吧专区檚 Office Coding.
They were two of only six HIM professionals honored nationally for their contributions.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 very humbling to be recognized by one杏吧专区檚 peers,杏吧专区 said Venable, head of UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Health Information Management Department. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 a huge honor.杏吧专区
Each year, the pair tackle the issue of updating the manuals. Because diagnostic coding changes constantly, updating is mandatory.
杏吧专区淓ach year, additional codes come out,杏吧专区 said Hazelwood. 杏吧专区淪o we have to include these additions in each new edition we author.杏吧专区
The pair noted the new codes are very reflective of what杏吧专区檚 happening in the world at the time. 杏吧专区淣ew codes for this year included bioterrorism, Anthrax and West Nile Virus,杏吧专区 said Venable.
Both faculty members have teamed up again to write a preview manual for the latest coding system - ICD-10-CM - which could be implemented as early as 2005.
The AHIMA described the new book as a practical introduction to the new system. 杏吧专区淚n many ways, ICD-10-CM will be a huge improvement over ICD-9-CM, but implementation will require extensive training for healthcare professionals and coding professionals and students alike,杏吧专区 according an AHIMA review. 杏吧专区(This book杏吧专区檚) expert authors provide a useful way to introduce the system into the workplace with a variety of training and presentation options, including fact sheets, slides and chapter reviews.杏吧专区
Bradd Clark, dean of the College of Sciences, isn杏吧专区檛 surprised by the high praise for Hazelwood and Venable.
杏吧专区淲e杏吧专区檝e known for years that Carol and Anita are outstanding leaders in their field,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淏ut, an award from your peers is always the warmest accolade of all.杏吧专区