It is safe to say that opinions on whether coding "destroys everything" in healthcare vary from complete support of that position to robust defense of the coding industry and the workers employed in it, according to LinkedIn comments in the wake of a June 29 Becker's article.
"Very much on point" and "Spot on" are some of the comments agreeing with Michael Connelly, former CEO of Cincinnati-based Mercy Health, when he identifies coding and its potential abuses as contributing to fraud and as a "massive headache."
"Agree with you wholeheartedly," wrote Surender Neravetla, MD, an Ohio-based heart surgeon. "Coding is where we need to start the change."
Others fell on the opposite side of the fence. One reader, Amy Flatter, a clinical documentation improvement professional at Indiana-based Reid Health, described coders as "such an under-celebrated group of individuals" possessing strong skill sets.
Brian Murphy, describing the storyline and headline in the article as having "the whiff of clickbait," said coding offers great insights into tracking disease incidence. Coding may not be a perfect science but it is much needed, he wrote, offering solutions as to how it could be improved
Healthcare coding and reimbursement consultant, Terry Fletcher, and clinical documentation expert Dawn Diven, BSN, RN were to the point.
"I saw this too and was like WTH?" Ms. Fletcher wrote.
"Agreed-clickbait and sensationalism-looking for a fight," Ms. Diven said. "The coders are not the enemy nor are medical codes. The ruin is in the hands of those who have twisted the interpretations and created ambiguity that then requires defining to an extreme purely for personal gain."