While America’s eventual transfer to electronic medical records (EMR) is a foregone conclusion, the ways in which we accomplish the shift is still being debated. The key is to create a system that makes doctors’ lives easier, and not more difficult. To achieve this goal, medical coding professionals are crucial to the future of electronic medical records.

The most logical interface to aggregate all medical records is the internet. Individual computers that contain medical record information is a method of the past; to maintain all medical records – a  huge amount of  information – a web-based system is the only option capable of immediately updating and maintaining the digital system.

Aside from changing a paperwork-based system that has become standard practice for them, doctors are often times unfamiliar with the pages of coded medical terms that are central to electronic medical records. This is another obstacle that stands in the way of the full adoption of digital health records, and highlights the necessary inclusion of medical coding professionals in healthcare facilities.

Professionals who are trained and experienced in medical coding facilitate the full implementation of electronic medical records. President Obama guaranteed that every American medical record will be electronic by 2014; this means huge job growth for medical billers and coders.

A web-based system of electronic records will improve the overall practice of healthcare. When a prescription is needed from a pharmacy, for example, instead of a phone call or paper slip, the pharmacy will receive the prescription automatically over the internet and will have the medication ready when the patient arrives. Without paperwork, healthcare in America will improve for all parties, and an essential ingredient of this progress are medical coding professionals.

According to a December 30, 2009 article in the NY Times, entitled “Bonus Planned for Digital Medical Records”, Medicare officials have outlined a plan to reward medical offices and hospitals that maintain systems of electronic medical records. Under the proposed stimulus, billions of dollars will be handed out across the country to healthcare providers that keep updated digital medical records of their patients. The announcement is just a proposal, however, and the plan does not expect to be completed until the spring.

The article features a quote from David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology, who says that “Widespread adoptions of electronic health records holds great promise for improving health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety”.

The proposed plan will provide bonus payments to health care professionals who use electronic medical records for at least 80 percent of their medical instructions. These incentives will facilitate America’s full transfer to electronic medical records, which President Obama has promised by 2014.  According to Obama administration officials, using digital health records will reduce costly medical errors and duplicate testing.

The national implementation of electronic medical records will also result with a high demand for healthcare technology professionals, such as medical billing and coding specialists, who can help medical offices and hospitals maintain these systems of electronic medical records.

1. Federal stimulus money is being poured into the cause.

a.  As part of President Obama’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”, $19.2 billion is being invested into America’s transition to digital health records.

b.  John Kerry’s recent legislation “The Small Business Health Information Technology Act of 2009” will make family doctors and small medical offices eligible for Small Business Administration loans to cover the costly transition to electronic medical records.

2. Obama has called for mandatory digitization of medical records by 2014.

a.  When Obama was elected president, he guaranteed that all health records in America will be digital by 2014.

b.  As electronic medical records become standard in medical offices and hospitals, so will medical billing and coding specialists.

3.  Major corporations are also helping the cause.

a.  General Electric recently launched a program to increase access to technology, and reduce the cost of transitioning to electronic medical records.

b.  Microsoft and Kaiser Permanente have partnered in an attempt facilitate an efficient and timely transfer to universal digital health records.

4.  Baby boomers are aging.

a.  With the largest generation of Americans entering retirement, more Americans will need medical attention than ever before.

b.  A White House report projects a 48% growth from 2000-2016 in the demand for “healthcare support” workers, a group that includes medical records and health information technicians.  Check out the graph here.

5.  Heavier workloads + electronic medical records = physicians need help

a.  With more Americans needing medical attention, and the shift to digital health records looming, more and more doctors are in need of medical billing and coding specialists to take care of their insurance claims; and the demand will only increase.

Senator John Kerry recently introduced “The Small Business Health Information Technology Financing Act of 2009″, a piece of legislation aimed at aiding family doctors switch to electronic medical records. The Act would make family doctors and other small medical practices eligible for Small Business Administration loans that would cover the costly transition from paper to digital health records. As a senior member of the Finance Committee and former Chairman of the Small Business Committee, Kerry is committed to helping President Obama achieve his goal of digitizing all  American health records  by 2014.

“Electronic medical records and prescriptions are the common sense solution to restricting costs, reducing errors, and reforming a broken system,  Kerry said. “Doctors don’t need convincing — they’ve seen the results.  This legislation helps small practices acquire the technology that will allow them to be more efficient and to focus on patient care.”

Kerry is not a newcomer  to healthcare technology legislation; in 2007 he introduced the Medicare Electronic Medication and Safety Protection  Act of 2007, which required physicians to employ electronic prescription technology.

According to an October 2009 article from the Washington Post,  “In a healthcare debate characterized by partisan bickering, most lawmakers agree on one thing: American medicine needs to go digital”.

The article, entitled “Electronic medical records not seen as a cure-all”, outlines many of the problems currently clouding the shift to electronic medical records (EMR). It is clear from the article that America has an arduous road ahead in implementing an efficient and error-free system. Aside from the technical issues that healthcare facilities have encountered with their EMR, the time that physicians are forced to spend on their computers to maintain the system has also been problematic. This is where healthcare technology professionals, such as medical billers and coders, can pay huge dividends in future procedures of EMR.  Medical facilities will hire technical saavy medical billers and coders, who are specialily trained  in running EMR systems; these specialists can help eliminate the current problems plaguing today’s electronic health records.

Doctors and nurses are at the forefront of patient care, and receive most of the attention associated with running a medical office. Behind the scenes, however, medical and billing and coding specialists serve vital roles in maintaining a successful healthcare facility.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the responsibilities of medical billers and coders:

• Run the software and systems that help keep our healthcare network going
• Process critical claims and medical records
• Code medical and surgical procedures using proper terminology
• Collect payment from patients and insurance companies
• Validate patient insurance information

Electronic medical records will improve the efficiency and reliability of the healthcare system in America. Check out this report that outlines some of its benefits.

The implementation of an electronic medical record is not an easy task for medical offices. The process can be expensive, sophisticated, and time consuming, especially for smaller medical offices with limited resources. According to a study in Health Affairs it costs about $44,000 per physician to install an electronic health records system, and that is not including ongoing maintenance costs.

President Obama’s federal stimulus will go a long way in helping smaller medical offices actualize electronic medical records. According to a study published in June 2008 by the New England Journal of Medicine, “Only 9% of medical practices with three or fewer physicians now use electronic medical records. By way of comparison, 50% of practices with more than 50 physicians have electronic medical records”. By 2014,  all medical offices in the United States will have shifted to an electronic medical record, and medical billing and coding professionals will be instrumental to the process.

President Obama discusses America’s transfer to electronic medical records as part of his healthcare stimulus plan. Under his proposal, all medical records in America will be electronic by 2014;  as a result,  healthcare technology professionals, such as medical billers and coders, will continue to be in high demand.

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With billions of dollars being invested into healthcare technology and America’s imminent transfer to exclusively electronic medical records, billing and coding professionals will become increasingly vital to healthcare facilities throughout the country. As more healthcare facilities undertake an electronic medical record system, there will be an increase in job openings for medical billing and coding professionals, a claim supported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

It states that employment levels of medical records and health information technicians are “expected to increase by 18 percent through 2016 – faster than average for all occupations”. The report continues by saying that these professionals “will be needed to enter patient information into computer databases to comply with Federal legislation mandating the use of electronic medical records”.