Standards for Ethical Coding Current

Standards for Ethical Coding Current Events in Coding When it comes to medical coding, ethical and moral questions may not seem to be what would be a large issue but that is most certainly not the case. Issues like moral distress and conscientious objection are not hard to find in the media lexicon and knowledge base. The recent kerfuffle regarding private religious organizations being required to cover birth control is proof of that.

This report covers two distinct reports on the subject and how those stories assess the subject of standards of ethical coding. Stegman Aricle The first article, as authored by Stegman (2008) covers the subject of how certain coding and qualifiers when coding medical procedures can lead to ethical quandaries. The article advocates all professionals sticking to the ICD-9-CM conventions and she stridently asserts that all coding must be based solely and completely on the notes of the treating physician.

The article also strongly advocates coders being completely up-to-date on ethical standards and their overall skill set lest they begin to pick up bad habits that run afoul of best practices and/or ethical standards. There are a few nits the author of this paper would pick with this article. First, not all physicians are on the "up and up" and others still are exceedingly sloppy at making exhaustive and/or readable notes.

Coders can strive for being the best all they would like, but that does not help if the doctors are the problem. Second, and on a different tone, Stegman's point about remaining up to speed with procedures and technology is spot on. Entirely too many people "phone it in" at work and anyone that would ever do that is not fit for a medical career of any sort that involves cost structures, medical care (any facet) or anything else along those lines.

Health care costs are indeed spiking for reasons that have nothing to do with medical coding but there is surely a gargantuan amount of waste and inefficiency occurring as well. Davis Article The Davis article discusses a very prominent topic and this topic has a huge effect on the medical coding sphere, that being the dual issue of moral distress and conscientious objection.

For example, a nurse or physician may come across a patient that is near death due to pregnancy complications and the only way to save the mother is ostensibly to abort the fetus. That is the medical standard but many doctors and nurses would stay far away from ever involving themselves in an abortion even if there is an over-arching reason behind it that does not involve improper or non-use of birth control before the fact.

The article makes note that the moral standing and views of the patient should always override that of the medical professional according to 75% of respondents. It is noted that when a conflict arises, it is usually due to religious convictions. Complicating things greatly is the fact that freedom of religion is in the Bill of Rights but many argue that this right is waived when speaking of life and death or even the medical field in general.

Medical coding is impacted by this because coding can be manipulated in very unethical ways based on the moral standings of the people doing the coding or even the physicians that make notes that lead to that coding. Conclusion In conclusion, as long as religion and other sources of moral.