Wait a sec, there, Greenfield! You ask what’s the medical code for “Being Struck by a Turtle at the Opera”?
Then you talk about separate codes for being struck by a turtle OR getting hurt at the opera.
But what happens if a flying turtle lands on me while I’m at the opera? We mustn’t ignore or make light of these potentially tragic events that could affect many families with Post Turtle Strike At Opera Syndrome.
This all began back in the Shamanistic Age before we had reading, writing and paper. Your village shaman needed to create signs like stars, bars, circles and whorls so he could explain his logic and the interest of the gods in your welfare.
Early shamen made up their own codes ~ but by about 12000 BC they'd begun STANDARDIZING the symbols, and that's where the medical codification system came into existence. It has persisted through time parallel to the creation of written language, keyboards and paper.
At some point the traditionalists are going to GIVE IT UP and flip on the computers and check out how fast and easy it is to just type in a general description which is then analyzed by the computer to associate the injury or event with prior decisions or standards regarding payments due.
A competing technology called FORMS has also had an impact in this area, and for the most part with the use of computers we no longer need special forms to collect relevant information.
My wife is an NP.
With paper records you had to write the codes out; so you had to know all of these more obscure codes to get paid - so no one ever did. It was just too much trouble. (Simple explanation)
This = Less billing fees.
BUT with electronic records(!) the machine ascribes the correct codes.
MORE billing! Wheeee!
Medicare/MedicAid is reporting that as more Docs switch to electronic records the payment costs are doubling/tripling. Costs are going up!
Democrats are dumb: Example Q34545454#$5454