Is Nursing Butting Heads With Your ICD 10 Coders? Clinical And Nursing Practice Implications That Impact Coding.
August 21, 2021
Bridging The Gap Between The Coding And The Clinical:
The reality of ICD 10 coding is that the RN has to have his or her name on the document. So, when there is coding and clinical conflict, nurses have the right and the duty to question before their names are on the 485. When speaking to nursing staff, encourage questions and dialogue between the two departments. Nurses should question what doesn't make sense to them. Ultimately, the coder is just as capable of human as error as anyone else. So, if it doesn't make sense, then the RN should question the coder. Second, we often see nurses disagree with the order the diagnoses are listed on the 485. This is especially common for seasoned nurses who were in the field prior to ICD 10. Based upon the rules of coding, the order of the list may make complete sense when following coding today's guidelines. Simply having an open dialogue between coding and nursing can remedy this issue in the future.
If you have in-house ICD 10 coding, then it may make huge sense to invest some time into some basic education to nursing staff from the coders. This can clear up future questions and issues nursing may have with your coding. If you outsource, then have your coding solution assign key contacts to complete your coding. It becomes very frustrating for nursing staff if they do not have a primary contact they work with often. You can certainly see where there is a lack of trust or rapport between coding and nursing if the RN never speaks to the same coder. Next, your coding solution should be willing to work with nursing staff to alleviate any questions or concerns from nursing. If they are not, then you don't have the right solution on your home health team.
Kenyon
Homecare Consulting Can Be Your Complete Coding Solution:
At Kenyon Homecare Consulting, we have seasoned certified ICD 10 coding solutions that can complete basic coding up and through review of the Oasis and 485. Let us help bridge the gap between clinical and coding by providing skilled staff to complete your coding and work through the needs of the nursing staff in your agency. Call us at 206-721-5091 or contact us online
to see how we can help you today!
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