Ace Your CPT Medical Coding With These Resources

Coding is certainly not an easy job, and there are numerous challenges in your way to accurate claims and full reimbursement. There are so many code revisions, additions, and deletions happening every year that it becomes extremely difficult to keep a track of them. 

Top these up with the complex medical jargon that you don’t understand, and you have the perfect recipe for failure. Right? Wrong. Even with all these problems slowing you down, coding can still be fun and simple. With the right coding resources in your basket, you can become a pro in no time, and report accurate, clean, and error-free claims. 

 Let’s have a look at the resources that can make your life easier and your claims cleaner:

•  Medical dictionary: You must have access to a medical dictionary, such as Stedman’s. This will help you understand the medical terms and procedures and find correct codes for it.
•   Latest copies of CPT® manual, HCPCS codes, ICD-9. Update your copies at least once every year.  New and revised CPT® codes go into effect January 1 of each year, and HCPCS codes are updated every quarter. Before you do a HCPCS code lookup, make sure that you have the most current info. ICD-9 is going to be changed to ICD-10 codes in October 2014. Most of the information is easily available online, so you can also start preparing for your transition. You can get an online access or the printed copies, full material or a specific portion that you need for your practice. But whatever you do, just make sure to have the most updated manuals.
• CPT® Assistant. CPT® Assistant is published by the American Medical Association (AMA), and it is an essential denial-busting and accuracy-boosting tool. It will help you quickly lookup a CPT® code, and also all the articles that have been published by the AMA on that particular code since 1990. You can understand the rationale behind a code and also get answers to your day-to-day burning coding questions.

You can get your subscription to the coding assistant from the AMA at an affordable price. Take a look at the beneficial features of the CPT® Assistant: 

•      Accuracy boosting: You can learn the rationale behind a code and get the latest, up-to-date information on every code that you need for your practice.

•      Time saver: In just a few clicks, you can read all the articles that have been published by the AMA on a specific CPT® code in the last two decades.

•      Get the most updated coding info: stay on top of the coding trends and developments with the new articles that are published every month. Also learn about the code changes that are supposed to go into effect and have already come into use.

•      Reduce your Accounts Receivable (A/R): Even the thought of overturning denials would sound impossible to most. But with the accurate coding knowledge and definitive guidance at hand from the AMA, it would be no more difficult.

•      Lessens appeals work: You can easily argue your case and appeal denials by cutting 'n' pasting or presenting the PDF® CPT® medical coding articles to insurance payers.