c The medical billing and coding process involves numerous tasks completed by all staff

members of a medical facility to provide quality care while protecting the privacy of patients and

expediting the payment of services. Ten steps are used to complete this process; pre-registration

of patients, establishing financial responsibility for visits, check in of patients, check out of

patients, review of coding compliance, a check of billing compliance, preparation and transmittal

of claims, monitoring payer adjudication, generating patient statements and handling collections.

During pre-registration, HIPAA policies are reviewed and signed by the patient to inform him or

her of their rights and responsibilities; therefore, informing the patient of specific processes

necessary for transmitting claims and the facilities devotion to confidentiality. This step also uses

careful HIPAA measures to retrieve demographic and insurance information and schedule or

update appointments in a manner that protects the patient¶s privacy.

During the steps of establishing financial responsibility, patient check in, and patient check

out staff members follow HIPPA regulations to review demographic, medical, financial,

insurance cards, and necessary authorizations in a manner that prevents unauthorized individuals

the access to information that may be used in a negative manner to harm the patient. During

check out three digit diagnosis codes from the ICD and five digit CPT codes, are added to the

super bill to identify treatments, procedures, and injections or immunizations. These may include

two digit modifiers, subcategories or classifications, and V or E codes. HCPCS codes are only

used when the services apply to hospital treatments for outpatient services. Every code provides

easily identifiable information that designates specific circumstances needed for documentation

to acquire timely and appropriate payment for services.