Hospitalist Coding –
Hospital Medicine Coding

Hospitalist Coding –Hospital Medicine Coding Background

Hospital Medicine is a new clinical specialty.  Hospitalists did not exist when the DRG and RBRVU systems were created.  It combines elements of almost every other clinical specialty to direct the treatment of acutely ill inpatients.  The fact that it is so broad in scope, yet so focused in its goals means that Hospital Medicine coding presents a series of unique challenges.  Hospitalists’ coders need to be familiar with essentially all of the internal medicine subspecialties and have a thorough understanding of a wide range of conditions and related treatments, as well as the complications that might occur and/or common comorbidities.  Knowing the intricacies of the Medical Decision Making components of the service is pivotal to accurate hospitalist coding.  The Coding Network’s hospitalist coding team, which is part of our Evaluation and Management Coding Division, offers you:

• Leadership by a nationally known Evaluation and Management coding and reimbursement expert who is both a certified coder and a certified instructor of coding.
• 25 years experience coding for and training Evaluation and Management physicians to improve documentation and coding compliance.
• A fund-of-knowledge built by coding over 25,000 Evaluation and Management encounters per month, including hospitalists, for the last six years.

Hospitalist Coding Need

• Hospitalist coding encompasses essentially every clinical specialty and subspecialty. This makes hospitalist coding algorithmically more complex, particularly for the Medical Decision Making component of Evaluation and Management coding.  What works for one subspecialty does not apply to another. Hospital medicine specific training and experience is critical.
• Experienced and skilled hospitalist coders are hard to find and can demand high salaries.
• Few hospitalist coders have the certified procedural coder designation, a symbol career commitment and of quality coding.
• Coding guidelines for hospital inpatient services are complex, change often and errors can be costly to the practice or create major compliance audit exposure.
• Coder turnover creates cash flow peaks and valleys.
• With so few coders specializing in hospitalist coding, it is difficult to find and hire experienced hospital medicine coders, even in large metropolitan areas.  Medical practices and hospitals in smaller communities and tight labor markets have trouble filling openings.

Hospitalist Coding Solution

• TCN’s team of hospitalist coders have the necessary specialty subspecialty coding experience to accurately code for hospitalists, including:
  • Anesthesiology Coding
  • Cardiology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Endocrinology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Gastroenterology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Geriatrics Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Hematology-Oncology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Immunology Evaluation and Management Coding  
  • Infectious Disease Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Nephrology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Neurology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Pain Management Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Pediatrics Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Pulmonology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Rheumatology Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Surgery Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Trauma and Burn Evaluation and Management Coding
  • Urology Evaluation and Management Coding
• Our certified and specialty-experienced hospitalist coders will code your services within 2-to-3 workdays when sent consistently.
• We will identify documentation deficiencies to help improve the quality of your medical records and optimize reimbursement.
• Our volume-driven per-service pricing model is cost effective and our team of coders stabilizes cash flow performance.
• Reduce compliance audit exposure due to inadvertent coding errors or persistent errors by noncompliant physicians.
• A practical and affordable solution for your hospitalist coding needs to improve coding and documentation.

Hospitalist Coding Services

• Temporary or ongoing hospitalist coding coverage for all or part of your caseload.
• Backlog coding resolution services.
• Compliance and missed revenue audits.
• Charge-ticket (“superbill”) updates and redesigns to stay current with coding changes.
• Physician documentation and code selection training.
• Physician group documentation deficiency reporting.
• Coding helpline services.
• Hospital coding “helpline” services.
• OIG and RAC audit defense.