For medical coding, Miami is a market that has no shortage of work. The city and the surrounding region boast numerous hospitals and hundreds of smaller clinics and medical practices. The sheer number of providers ranging from solo-practitioners to large hospital groups, combined with watershed industry changes reshaping America's healthcare system, make for a turbulent time in medical coding.
Miami area medical providers increasingly are in need of fast, accurate medical coding services, a primary offering of iATROS Healthcare Solutions. But in Miami and throughout Florida, medical coding gets increasingly tougher by the day. State and federal laws passed over the last few years have drastically changed the business of medical coding in Miami and nationwide. ICD-10 alone will present a massive challenge with a surge in the number of diagnosis codes from 13,000 to 68,000, and in the number of procedure codes from 11,000 to 87,000. America's recession caused a swell in Florida's Medicaid enrollments, forcing a $4 billion increase in the state's Medicaid spending in 2010 and adding to the workload in medical coding.
Miami providers who attempt to save time and money by handling coding themselves may be asking for trouble. In a survey by the American Academy of Professional Coders, respondents (all professional medical coders) indicated that 30.4% of the E/M coding and 27.9% of the ICD-9-CM coding handled by their practice's providers is incorrect. The majority of these inaccurate codes likely are honest mistakes, but often they are suspected to be fraudulent efforts to land higher reimbursements from Medicaid and insurance companies and can be flagged for audit. The survey also showed that 26.6% of medical coding professionals say they regularly are expected to code outside of their expertise, and that 26.7% of coders lack adequate time to research coding and compliance issues.
All of this makes for a heavy burden on your Miami medical coding staff, especially if you have a small or mid-sized practice that requires clinical coding staff to take on additional administrative and patient service duties. By trusting iATROS Healthcare Solutions' medical finance experts with their medical coding, Miami area practitioners are able to reallocate human and financial resources to core patient treatment functions. Plus, accurate medical coding helps ensure your insurance claims are approved and paid faster, boosting your practice's cash flow. We'll make sure your practice remains in full regulatory compliance for medical coding, Miami. Call iATROS Healthcare Solutions at (904) 296-1160 today to see how we can help streamline your medical coding and other revenue cycle management procedures to ensure your practice's long-term success.