This series of tutorials will help medical coders get comprehensive information about the standards of ethical medical coding norms and assist them in making ethically decisions in the workplace; these parameters can help evaluate the coding professionals’ commitment to integrity during the coding process.
Following are the set of guidelines recognized by AHIMA for ethical medical coding:
Accuracy and Consistency:
Coding professionals and managers shall apply accurate, complete, and consistent coding practices for the production of quality healthcare data. They should
- Support selection of appropriate diagnostic procedure and other types of health service-related codes such as type of disease, admission indicator, and discharge status
- Develop and comply with comprehensive internal coding policies and procedures that are consistent with official coding & regulation guidelines,
- prohibit coding practices that misrepresent the patient’s medical conditions and treatment provided or are not supported by the health record documentation
- Promote an environment that supports honest and ethical coding practices resulting in accurate and reliable data, irrespective of the purpose for which codes are being reported
- Refrain from alteration, or suppression of coded information