Medical coders bracing for disruption, high demand

...There are three significant forces converging on medical coding: Electronic health records (EHR), Computer-assisted coding (CAC), ([and] last but not least...) ICD-10. "Taken together these changes will profoundly alter how coding is performed, managed, and integrated into the healthcare delivery system," wrote Wendy Coplan-Gould, RHIA; Katie Carolan; and Beth Friedman, RHIT; in "Re-engineering the Coding Workflow: Assessing Today with an Eye toward Tomorrow" in the July Journal of AHIMA.

Kind of makes you wonder why anyone would want to be a medical coder. kForce Healthcare Group President Peggy Pricher told SearchHealthIT.com the disruption isn't a perk of the job. "It's a combination of technology, ICD-10 and the complexity around it, and the complexity of the rules and regulations," she gave as reasons why medical coders are planning to leave their jobs and many their replacements are having second thoughts....But the good news is the complexity and exodus will create more demand for the coders who stick it out. And there's help coming.

"IT staff can help ease the burden on coders -- and keep them around longer -- with thorough EHR training that puts an emphasis on detailed data capture by health care practitioners, Pricher said. When doctors and nurses understand the system's features in depth, and become comfortable using many of them in their daily workflow, documentation benefits. Starting now on a slow ramping-up, they said, will ease the 2013 transition to ICD-10 codes, making it less of a big-bang event and more of a smooth process."...