Prepare for Success: Essential Medical Coding Interview Questions

However, to earn a strong foothold with any of the industry leaders, you must be able to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise when you venture into the job market. In other words, you must be able to face the Medical Coding interview questions with complete confidence.

To help ace your interviews, this article presents a list of the most commonly asked Medical Coding interview questions along with the answers.

Let’s now go through the Medical Coding interview questions one by one…

1. What is Medical Coding? Where is it useful in real life?

Medical Coding is the practice of extracting medical information from patients’ records and converting it into universally accepted codes. This codified information helps doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Insurance companies use it for settling insurance claim disputes. Even the government finds this information helpful while framing health policies.

2. Can you list some specialities in Medical Coding?

Some common specialities are Radiology, Pathology, Surgery etc.

3. How does Medical Coding differ from Medical Billing?

Medical Coders assign codes to patients’ medical information and liaise with doctors, other departments as well as insurance companies to ensure that patient claims are processed accurately and settled timely.

Medical Billers, on the contrary, focus primarily on collecting payments from patients and processing their insurance claims.

4. Do you know the skills that a Medical Coder must possess?

A successful Medical Coder must possess a combination of both subject matter expertise as well as soft skills. To be precise, a Medical Coder should have:

• In-depth knowledge of medical terminologies, physiology, and anatomy.
• Familiarity with common diseases and injuries and the medical procedures used for treating them.
• Expertise in interpreting patients’ medical charts and reports
• Robust understanding of classification and coding conventions, such as ICD-9, DSM-5, and CDC
• Proficiency in operating computers, particularly working with Word processing and spreadsheet software.

These apart, the following soft skills come in handy when a Medical Coder interacts with patients, healthcare professionals, or insurance companies. Some of these include:

• Attention to detail
• Problem-solving
• Communication
• Stakeholder management

5. Where you can work as a Medical Coder?

A Medical Coder can find work in:

• Private or public hospitals
• Healthcare centres
• Nursing homes
• Insurance Companies

6. Can you list down the responsibilities of a Medical Coder?

As a Medical Coder, we perform a wide range of responsibilities critical towards ensuring a satisfactory experience for patients every time they visit a healthcare facility. For example, we have to:

• Assign standard codes to the medical information of patients gathered from doctor’s notes and medical reports.
• Adhere to the legal requirements regarding coding procedures and practices.
• Conduct reviews and audits to ensure the accuracy of documentation.
• Submit statistical data and analysis for aiding research by other departments.
• Work with doctors to remain updated on the diagnosis and treatments given to patients wrt coding procedures.
• Liaise with insurance companies to resolve coding errors and claim disputes.
• Collaborate with the billing department to facilitate the timely settlement of bills.

7. Are you aware of the phrases commonly used in Clinical Coding and what is their significance?

There are certain commonly used phrases that are part of a Medical Coder’s lingo. These include:

• Abstraction: Understand a patient’s ailment by reading the doctor’s notes, radiology and lab reports.
• Assignment: Apply appropriate codes to the patient’s medical information and record them in the system
• Review: Check that the codes assigned to patient records are correct so that they represent accurate information. A thorough review is important because this information is used by healthcare professionals for further diagnosis and treatment.

8. Are you familiar with ICD Codes? Can you explain?

Yes, I have a good understanding of ICD Codes. ICD stands for International Classification of Diseases. Established by the World Health Organization (WHO), ICD Codes represent the various forms of diseases, injuries, illnesses, and deaths. These are alphanumeric codes of 5-7 characters, starting with an alphabet.

Currently, there are two components of ICD Codes. One is ICD-10 CM, which represents clinical modification codes for diagnostic coding. The other component, ICD-10 PCS, denotes the procedure coding system for inpatient procedures performed.

9. What does ICD-10 CM signify?

ICD-10 CM indicates Version 10 of the International Classification of Diseases. In other words, it is the 10th revision of the original ICD by the WHO. These codes denote the common and comprehensive coding convention for reporting diseases and monitoring how patients are responding to the treatment.

10. Will you be able to explain the different types of HCPCS Codes?

HCPCS is Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. This system works at three levels:

• Level I: The American Medical Association manages this Level. They assign 5-digit codes, which include the CPT codes. These codes indicate the medical services and procedures that a healthcare professional has ordered for a patient.
• Level II: At this level, the code has 4 characters. It is an alphanumeric code used for identifying services, products, and pharmacies not included in the CPT.
• Level III: These are alphanumeric codes with 5 characters. They begin with W, X, Y, and Z. When Level I and Level II are not available for diagnosis, we use Level III.

11. Where are HCPCS Modifiers used?

HCPCS modifiers provide helpful information about the additional procedures and services used for the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. To be precise, these codes help to determine the exact parts of the body where procedures are performed and the nature of the procedures. Additionally, we also get to know why the patient discontinued treatment, if applicable.

12. What are DRG Codes?

The full form of DRG is Diagnostic Related Groups. Used for categorizing hospital cases into 500 set groups, these codes are applicable only in the case of inpatient claims. It is extremely important to get these codes right because many insurance companies only consider these codes for settling insurance claims. In other words, any error in DRG codes can lead to claim disputes.

13. What are the common billing errors committed by Medical Coders and how can you prevent them?

One error commonly observed is the lack of adequate information provided to insurance companies for processing a claim. This leads to claim disputes. Another common error is the use of incorrect codes or costs. Accuracy of codes is extremely crucial to avoid any errors in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

The most effective means of avoiding these errors is to do a thorough review of the documents and codes before sending them.

14. In Medical Billing, what does a “J Code” signify?

In Medical Billing, the “J” code is part of the HCPCS Level II code set. This code denotes medications offered to patients non-orally and for chemotherapy drugs.

15. As a Medical Coder, can you suggest some tips to ensure accurate coding?

Yes, there are some guidelines that we all must remember and follow at the time of coding. We should:

• Code only the information that is documented
• Follow the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) and (Medically Unlikely Edits) MUI guidelines
• Use the appropriate modifiers
• Report the codes in the right order

Final words

That completes the list of Medical Coding interview questions you are most likely to face during your job hunt. I believe this article will help you prepare the answers in advance so that you are geared up to respond to the Medical Coding interview questions with elan.

Note that the industry is ripe and teeming with opportunities for Medical Coders. So, groom yourself to leverage them as the first step towards launching a successful career. That’s a sure recipe for success.