Medical Assistants at the Front Desk

Medical assistants in the USA are regarded as multi skilled allied health professionals trained in two areas of the medical office: the front office (administrative and reception), and the back office (clinical) floors. Their main goal in is to work as a team with their colleagues, peers, and licensed health care practitioners to provide service with full respect for the dignity of patients, and activities aimed toward improving the health and well being of their community.

Administrative medical assistants often play a major role in medical office management, which includes medical records and bookkeeping responsibilities, managing practice finances, third party billing, as well as scheduling, and monitoring appointments. Patient's medical charts must be created, maintained, updated, and kept track of before, during, and after each appointment, and stored and protected in secure locations. Basic filing systems ensure speed, accuracy, and reliability of this daunting task. 

Administrative medical assistants also are responsible for maintaining the office reception and waiting room area, equipment and supply inventory, as well as maintenance, except for repairs that require expert skills and contracts, e.g. defective computers, printers, monitors, and other automated office equipment, electrical outlets, wiring, and fixtures, etc..

Medical assistants responsible for processing claims are also expected to help patient understand their type of health care and medical insurance policies, and assist them in filing their insurance claims, and handle manual and electronic preparation of claims. It is their knowledge and skills that assures the office will be reimbursed efficiently and correctly.

The information presented by Laguna Medical Systems, Inc. serves as a supplement to official ICD-9-CM Coding guidelines: http://www.lagunamedsys.com/edgearchive/feature011500.htm

 Medical Coding Example

Example: Right forearm avulsion with laceration.

1.) First, the medical assistant pulls the patient's medical record to determine if the injury is open or closed. Laceration hints that it is an open injury. The medical assistant realizes that if fractures are not specified as either open or closed, they are coded as closed. So, keeping this in mind the medical assistant must specify whether the injury it is open or closed.

2.) The medical assistant knows that ICD-9-CM classifies the following injuries:
Fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains - but not specifically avulsion (?).

3.) The medical assistant knows that the term avulsion it is defined as the loss or separation of a body part, either by surgery or due to trauma, in other words, the arm was torn away forcibly.

So it would likely fall under:

• avulsion = fracture, or...
• Certain traumatic complications and unspecified injuries
• Other and unspecified effects of external causes
• Complications of surgical and medical procedures

The doctor's progress (or SOAP) notes in the patient's chart will provide the medical assistant the most accurate data regarding the type, cause, and extent of trauma.

http://www.icd9data.com/2007/Volume1/800-999/default.htm

Medical Coding Process and Delivery illustrated:
http://www.globaledgeusa.com/medical_coding_process.htm