If you have applied for a job as a medical coder and have been given a date for an interview, you are likely doing a lot of preparation. You should be researching the company you have applied to work for to find out more about their ethos and what type of organization it is. If you look at the ‘About Us’ section of their website, you will get an idea of the size and scale of the organization. This should also give you an indication of how friendly or commercial it is, allowing you to decide whether you would fit in there.
If you are keen to work for this employer, learning about what they do will give you an edge in an interview. Most employers want to know that you are interested in working for them and that you have taken the time to find out as much as you can about what they do. The next thing to do is to prepare for the types of questions you might be asked. Below are a few examples.
What Do You Know About Medical Coding?
This is a quite common question and is usually one of the first questions you will be asked. The interviewer wants to know that you understand what the job entails. It should also be one of the easiest questions for you to answer. After all, if you want to be a medical coder, you should know what it is and ideally have been educated in the subject or have some experience.
What Skills Does a Medical Coder Need?
To be a medical coder, you need more than just a knowledge of what the role entails. According to Find-A-Code.com, it is necessary for medical coders to have a good understanding of physiology, anatomy, and medical terminology in order to find the correct CPT or ICD 11 diagnosis codes. Additionally, medical coders require excellent attention to detail, good communication skills, and be computer literate. Discretion is also of utmost importance as it is necessary to keep patient information safe and secure to ensure HIPAA compliance.
What Do You Know About ICD Codes?
The answer to this question should demonstrate your knowledge of coding and what you will be expected to do on a daily basis. ICD codes are a huge part of medical coding and were created by the World Health Organization (WHO). ICD codes are used all over the world to classify diseases, injuries, and health conditions. ICD 11 is an updated version of the ICD coding system, the first to have been published for two decades. ICD 11 has replaced the previous ICD 10 codes as the global standard and came into effect on 1 January 2022.
Do You Know Some of the Most Common Billing Errors?
Medical coding requires accuracy, but there are a number of common errors that are made. These include things like upcoding, which is when codes used are for more expensive treatments than those that were performed. Although upcoding can occur accidentally, it can also be a fraudulent behavior by medical facilities hoping to claim more money than they should. Other types of coding errors include under-coding which is the opposite of up-coding, and unbundling, where a series of grouped treatments are billed separately so that a higher amount can be claimed.
Conclusion
If you are attending an interview for a medical coder position, learning about the employer is a good start. You should also be prepared to answer questions on what coding is and what skills a good medical coder should have.
