Artificial Intelligence in Medical Coding: A New Frontier in Medical Coding

 

Artificial intelligence has already solved a slew of human problems; medical coding could be next. Medical coding is about to get a lot more complicated as organisations prepare for ICD-11. ICD-10 codes are already managed by 140,000+ healthcare organisations in the United States. That number will rise as ICD-11 is implemented.

How AI Could Make the ICD-11 Transition Easier

The 140,000+ codes in ICD-10 are impossible for humans to remember. We'll see more codes with ICD-11, which will complicate things even further.It has never been simple to code medical diagnoses and treatments. In fact, many businesses struggle in this area. Revenue opportunities can be lost due to bad coding. It has the potential to jeopardise patient safety, increase insurance denials, and damage a company's reputation.Is it possible to solve these issues using artificial intelligence? Medical coding with artificial intelligence is closer than you think, according to Forbes, and AI is already solving medical coding challenges for organisations all over the world.

To begin, it is necessary to comprehend what ICD-11 is and why it is significant.

ICD-10 is the international medical coding standard currently in use. The International Classification of Diseases is now in its tenth version. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed ICD-10, which includes more than 10,000 diagnostic and treatment codes.

The implementation of the next version of the ICD has already been approved. In May 2019, WHO member states voted to implement ICD-11, with implementation beginning in January 2022 in all WHO member states, including the United States.

ICD-11 is a significant improvement over ICD-10 in terms of classification. It has four times as many diagnostic codes as ICD-10, with 55,000 to choose from.

Medical coding is even more difficult in the United States. The United States has its own enhanced version of ICD-10. This version contains over 140,000 classification codes, including approximately 70,000 diagnosis and treatment codes. It's possible that the American version of ICD-11 has many more codes.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Could It Assist?

The 140,000 codes in America's ICD-10 medical coding system are already impossible for a human to memorise. In fact, memorising the 10,000 codes in the ICD-10 international version is nearly impossible.

Medical coders use code books to accomplish this. They look through a book or search a database of codes to find the most appropriate code for the services they provide. Practice Management System vs EMRThe fact that the same medical service can be coded under multiple codes further complicates things. There may be multiple ways to code a service, depending on interpretation.Artificial intelligence has been suggested as a solution. Many healthcare organisations are relying on artificial intelligence as it becomes smarter and more powerful.

Healthcare organisations have been increasingly adopting computer-assisted coding systems over the last 20 years. These systems provide code recommendations as well as error detection.

Organizations can improve revenue cycle management, prevent coding errors, and improve patient care by enhancing these systems with artificial intelligence.

• Automatically recommend codes based on services performed • Provide actionable data on code usage, patient activity, and medical services performed • Track codes within a patient's history to avoid manual code entry with every visit Artificial intelligence could: • Identify inconsistent code usage within an organisation • Spot coding errors • Identify the use of a rare or unique code • Identify the use of a rare or unique codeArtificial intelligence could help healthcare organisations identify missed opportunities in a similar way that contract medical coding specialists do.

Medical Coding Experts on Contract Can Assist

Medical coding will be aided in the future by artificial intelligence. Medical coding specialists, on the other hand, are now used to assist healthcare organisations.For inpatient, outpatient, same-day surgeries, ancillary departments, and physician E/M, contract medical coding specialists can implement better systems.Regrettably, medical coding services are not all created equal. Only a few months of training is required for some medical coding specialists. Others have years, if not decades, of experience under their belt.Healthcare organisations can improve revenue cycle management, prevent coding errors, and improve patient care by hiring the right medical coding specialist.

Finally, today is the best time to hire a medical contract coding expert.

Medical coding is becoming more complicated, whether you like it or not. Things could get more complicated in the near future with the introduction of ICD-11.