Cardiothoracic Surgery Coding
Surgeons specialize because it is virtually impossible for one person to be an expert in all of the surgical subspecialties. To be competent at something, you must do it every day. For the very same reasons, we require our cardiothoracic coders to focus specifically on cardiothoracic surgical coding so they excel at coding all of the cutting-edge cardiothoracic procedures, i.e. multi-vessel CABG, robotic surgery, endovascular valve repairs, transplants, etc. Each of our cardiothoracic surgery coders has a minimum of three years of cardiothoracic surgical coding experience and then must pass our very demanding proficiency test in cardiothoracic surgical coding. Unlike the certification tests which are multiple choice questions spanning all specialties from pediatrics to geriatrics, our proficiency tests are actual de-identified operative reports from our medical school faculty cardiothoracic surgeons. The few who pass must demonstrate an accuracy rate of at least 95% on our ongoing random Quality Assurance/Continuous Accuracy Improvement reviews in order to continue working for The Coding Network. Compare this approach to quality to the majority of our competitors, both domestic and those using offshore cardiothoracic surgery coders in third- world countries; their business model is to offer “wannabe” coders a vocational school experience solely designed to prepare them to score 70% on a multiple-choice certification test. The certification test requires that they know a little bit about a lot of things, while we require that they know a lot about just cardiothoracic surgery coding. Once they pass, these newly certified novice coders are assigned to code for you. This is the equivalent of having an intern perform cardiothoracic surgery!
Many cardiothoracic surgeons will say that "nobody knows better than me what I did in the operating room.... so nobody can code it better than me." The first part of that sentence is correct, but does not logically lead to the correct conclusion. Coding is dynamic; does that surgeon know that just the 2010 NCCI data set includes 24,060 new active pairs and 19,083 terminated pairs (237 were terminated retroactively to 1/1/09) and 869 modifier changes, and 5,299 swapped pairs? That doesn't even touch the thousands of annual and quarterly changes to the CPT and ICD-9 coding systems. Errata supplements are published before the ink in the books has a chance to dry. Precise cardiothoracic surgical coding requires a substantial time commitment to learn the many cardiothoracic techniques and technology, rules, edits, regulations, and cardiothoracic-specific documentation requirements. It is not the intuitive experience many cardiothoracic surgeons believe it to be. Like cardiothoracic surgery, cardiothoracic coding is a career of its own.
TCN’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Coding Background:
- Directed by a nationally know cardiothoracic surgery coding expert.
- Decades of experience in cardiothoracic surgery coding for prestigious academic and private cardiothoracic surgery practices.
- An entire team of certified cardiothoracic surgery coders.
- Experience in coding for surgeons in 49 states and at 60+ medical schools.
The Cardiothoracic Surgery Coding Need:
- Well trained cardiothoracic surgery coders are difficult to find, expensive to recruit, and their ongoing training can be quite costly.
- Few certified coders have the extensive cardiothoracic surgery coding experience and specialty knowledge possessed by The Coding Network’s staff of cardiothoracic surgery coding experts.
- With OIG and RAC auditors targeting cardiothoracic surgeons’ Medicare claims, there is no such thing as "a second chance" after submitting your claims. They must be accurate the first time. The legal and financial risks of upcoding or undervaluation are enormous.
- Cardiothoracic surgery coding includes one of the most complex portions of the CPT codes and presents procedural, modifier, and diagnostic coding challenges.
- Cardiothoracic coder turnover creates cash flow peaks and valleys.
- Most cardiothoracic surgery practices and Departments-or-Divisions are simply too small to economically justify a full time certified coder. Coders are expensive fixed-cost overhead items who often fill their highly-paid time with other less-challenging non-coding tasks. Why pay for more than what you need?
The Cardiothoracic Surgical Coding Solution:
- The Coding Networks cardiothoracic surgery coders are "black belts" in cardiothoracic surgery.
- 2-to-3 business day coding turnaround via fax or scanning. We can dial into your electronic medical record or transcription service's archives.
- HIPAA compliance and no documents are sent off-shore.
- Our per-case pricing model is inexpensive and our team of coders stabilizes cash flow. You only pay for what you need.
- Never worry about revenue cycle "whiplash" caused by absences, vacations, family leaves, etc.
- No monthly minimum gives you total control.
- Volume-driven pricing makes us an ideal ongoing solution for practices of all sizes.
- Identification of documentation deficiencies and feedback to the surgeons at no additional cost.
- A practical and cost-effective solution for your surgical coding needs.
- No monthly minimums.
Services
- Temporary cardiothoracic surgery coding to cover vacations, medical leaves and employee turnover.
- Backlog coding resolution services.
- Coding accuracy and compliance audits with user friendly and educational report formats.
- Documentation training services with subspecialty workbooks..
- Coding "helpline" services.
- OIG and RAC audit defense.
