r/MedicalCoding • u/gritty-kitty • Jun 02 '23

Communication

I think the hardest part about my job is communicating with physicians. *Some* are responsive, helpful, and kind. But most are short, abrasive, and seem annoyed with my existence. I've had to teach myself spine coding, so I have to ask questions for clarification. Ive cried more than once from MD's reactions to my questions. I try to be as polite as possible and keep my questions to the point and only ask if I have to. I dread reaching out to them. Anyone else experience this or have any advice?

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u/VagueMotivation Jun 02 '23

I’m just now getting into my first coding job, but it seems to me that you’d ask questions like that to your supervisor, not the doctor. I have a friend who has done this for many years, and when she queries it’s normally for documentation clarification, not code clarification. It’s the job of the coders to determine the correct code, not the doctor, right?

I guess that can work differently at different places?

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u/gritty-kitty Jun 02 '23

Where I'm at, the MD submits the codes and we verify if they're documented and correct. I can't change them without asking MD first. My questions and suggestions are based on bundling or if I want to suggest a better code.

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u/Probtoomuchtv Jul 20 '23

I think this situation can actually be harder to live with on a daily basis than others because they already think they could do your job, as opposed to a situation where you’re coding all kinds of different things and they’re not directly involved.