{"id":1640,"date":"2014-08-11T15:15:50","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T15:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billingparadise.com\/blog\/?p=1640"},"modified":"2026-03-25T01:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T06:42:20","slug":"do-physicians-make-good-medical-coders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billingparadise.com\/blog\/do-physicians-make-good-medical-coders\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Physicians Make Good Medical Coders ? You don\u2019t want to know the answer !"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_custom_heading text=”Unveiling the Reality of Physician-Driven Medical Coding” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:36|text_align:left|color:%23f16226″ google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”]<\/div><\/div><\/section>

Despite understanding the importance of medical coding<\/a> and the risks of erroneous coding practices, most physicians still have a long way to go as far as coding is concerned. It still remains a quagmire an abomination. There are several factors attributed to physician\u2019s coding abilities or the lack of it.<\/p>\n

And the one major reason that everybody agrees on is that physicians hardly have the time to focus on medical coding. Providing patient care and learning to work with new workflow models and technologies is taking up enough time. Physician coded medical claims have a shocking error rate. Almost 60% of physician coded data is incorrect<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here are the major reasons why physicians struggle with assigning medical codes\u2026<\/span><\/h3>\n

Most physicians are not trained to assign codes. With the slant being on accurate coding and documentation, a small mistake can prove to be fatal. Assigning just a single diagnosis code is not going to make the cut anymore.<\/p>\n

To classify a patient, it takes more than a single code. Broadly classifying diseases and sticking to middle of the road coding can only result in denials. Physicians who are not formally trained or certified in medical coding are going to find it tough.<\/p>\n

Chart abstraction plays a vital role in medical coding. Abstracting the entire medical record of the patient, to understand the diagnosis of the patient can demand a lot of time and effort. In the hectic pace of a medical practice, there is barely enough time left for chart abstractions. Diagnosis codes must be properly sequenced to avoid denials. And closely following the medical coding instructions of payers is mandatory. With so much to do and so little time, physicians are bound to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

Picture this\u2026<\/span><\/h3>\n

A patient recently was billed $1000 for a $299 procedure<\/strong>. The patient had clearly done her research, talked to her doctor\u2019s office about her insurance plan and confirmed what her out of pocket expense would be after insurance reimbursement. The bill came as sticker shock and she couldn\u2019t understand what was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u00a0After months together of following up with the physician\u2019s office and collection agency, the mistake was finally spotted. You guessed it right, the doctor had coded wrongly. He\u2019d mistakenly assigned a code for an in-patient procedure when it clearly wasn\u2019t. There are thousands of patients who\u2019ve had such harrowing experiences thanks to inaccurate codes.<\/p>\n

What are the most common coding mistakes physicians make ?<\/span><\/h3>\n