New medical coding & bill system to be in place by 2013
According to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, jobs in the healthcare and social assistance fields rose 24.5 percent from November 2009 to November 2010, a 2.7 percent increase over the previous year. The agency’s targeted occupational lists also predicts a 2.28 percent increase in jobs for 2011.
These statistics are not surprising, especially with regard to the medical coding and billing field. Medical coding and billing specialists play a very pivotal role, as insurance and Medicare forms need to be submitted according to the proper codes in order for providers, both physicians and private care facilities, to receive payment. As the “translators” for the medical field, medical coding and billing specialists are even more in demand today since the entire healthcare system currently is “under the microscope” with fees regulated and policed by HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
Looking to the future, the most significant change in this field already is in the works. By October 2013, the entire electronic system of medical coding and billing will be upgraded from the current computer program International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9) to version ICD-10. The revisions to the program account for updates in the medical field and additional codes for diseases, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, and other causes of injury, diseases or death, as classified by the World Health Organization (WHO). ICD-10 already is being used by more than 20 countries around the world and will allow for more than 14,400 codes, with sub-classifications expanded to 16,000 codes, as well as enables tracking of new diseases. More specifically, ICD-10
• is more specific in terms of how medical conditions/diseases will be documented;
• will allow for more accurate condition descriptions for more effective medical treatments and procedures;
• will allow for an increase in characters to meet advances in medical knowledge and technology;
• will effect globalization of codes: whether you are in Africa or Florida, the codes will translate to the same condition or disease;
• and will allow more effective and accurate tracking of diseases, conditions, medical treatment and procedures by regulatory bodies.
This will have a major impact on the medical community because training to learn the new system will be required both for students studying medical coding and billing as well as those currently employed in the field. In addition, billing offices of providers will need to convert to the new program. Both providers and medical coding and billing specialists will need to be prepared well ahead of this conversion in order to effect a smooth transition.
As educators, we are preparing now to update our teaching facilities to ICD-10 and train our students in all aspects of the new medical coding and billing structure, which eventually will completely operate via a paperless system of electronic records. As a program specialist for health and science programs for Florida Career College, one of my immediate challenges is to help prepare the school and our students for the conversion to this new system.
Even with the current economic climate, job opportunities continue to increase for medical coding and billing, the backbone of payment for medical providers, especially as the industry readies to adapt to big changes in 2013.
