How does standardization improve efficiency with coding?
Standardizationpromotes productivity by eliminating inefficiency. This
is the result of eliminating ambiguity and providing quality control:
tasks are completed in a more efficient manner, and there are fewer
quality control issues from tasks that were not completed correctly the
first time around.According to the author, Kaufmann, (2019) “the
advantages of standardizing healthcare terms outweigh the major
efforts to combat the issue around unstructured data and
interoperability. There are several national initiatives that share the
goal of standardizing vocabularies within EHRs to facilitate the transfer
of data, information, and knowledge among systems with the ultimate
goal of interoperability. The meaningful use is one of the main drivers
for interoperability with a foundation based upon priorities to improve
quality, safety, efficiency, population, and public health, and reduce
health disparities. Finding a way to overcome the variability in which
clinical data is portrayed, is extremely important in interoperability and
big data. We have all this clinical data within EHRs, databases, and
data warehouses that can be used for research and population health,
but we are unable to easily extrapolate this data due to the lack of
standardized terminologies and unstructured data.”
How is this different with inpatient versus outpatient coding?
Outpatient coding refers to a detailed diagnosis report in which the
patient is generally treated in one visit, whereas an inpatient coding
system is used to report a patient's diagnosis and services based on
his duration of stay. The outpatientcodingis based on the ICD-10-CM
diagnostic codes for billing and appropriate reimbursement but uses a
CPT or HCPCS coding system to report procedures. Documentation
plays a crucial role in the CPT and HCPCS codes for services.
Resources:
Standardizing Healthcare Terms: Challenges, Benefits, and Future
https://blogs.perficient.com/2019/07/09/standardizing-healthcare-
terms-challenges-benefits-future/
https://www.medicalbillersandcoders.com/blog/outpatient-coding-and-
inpatient-coding/
