%

h ly
Roug

40
Navigating the of healthcare financial
leaders report a lack of

coder shortage
capabilities they find
“extremely important”
for success, such as
in-house expertise and
resources for value-
based or risk-based
The current state of medical coding payment models.2

Medical coding The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates

is one of the medical coding jobs will increase by 15%

20
from 2014 to 2024,

15%
with an additional

29,000
fastest growing new medical coding
occupations jobs expected by 2024.
in the United States1

So why the shortage?

Lack of qualified candidates Large-scale retirement
More than 90% of independent groups After the release of ICD-10, facilities
and solo practices have high turnover faced escalated retirement from coders
rates, with more than 80% experiencing unwilling to transition from ICD-9. And
difficulty recruiting candidates with now, with an average age coder of 54,
experience in ICD-10, value-based care more mass retirements are coming. 4 5
and MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP
Reauthorization Act).3

Widespread electronic Baby boomers

health record (EHR) adoption 81.7 million Americans will enroll
The EHR adoption rate for office-based in Medicare by 2030, up from
physicians is nearly 90% and continues 55 million in 2015, creating a need
to climb, leading to massive coding for increased medical staffing across
process overhauls.6 the healthcare industry.7

Potential impacts of the

coder shortage

Increasing Increasing denials Increasing

accounts receivable and write-offs compliance risk
Coding backlogs Hastily-assigned, inaccurate, Lack of oversight related to
cause an increase in or non-specific codes coding and documentation
accounts receivable cause an increase in denials causes increased compliance
that has a detrimental and write-offs as well as risk, including the risk of
effect on revenue and over- and under-payments. audits and fines from CMS.
operating income.

How to respond
Automate to compensate Consider outsourcing
Many outsource coding companies:
Organizations using
computer-assisted have established a more than

30% coding (CAC) have

increased coder
95% chart acceptance rate,
meaning insurance carriers accept
productivity by more and pay nearly all the submitted codes.9
than 30 percent.8
provide a one-day turnaround time,
on average, for backlog requests.8
Using CAC, medical
facilities are sending

60% over 60 percent of

some specialty coding More than More than
directly to billing.
(3M client data) 75% 90%
of chief financial officers of independent physicians
plan to leverage outsourcing plan to outsource at least
coding, revenue cycle and part of their revenue
transcription needs.11 management.5

25% 78%
By outsourcing 78 percent of hospitals
their coding, some with fewer than 200
organizations have beds attributed 6.2
increased their percent of their revenue
efficiency by more increases to the decision
than 25 percent.10 to outsource all or most
of their RCM operations,
according to the Black
Book poll.2

What’s next?
For more information call 800-367-2447
or visit us online at www.3m.com/his

Sources
1 Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook - Medical Records and Health Information Technicians -
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm#tab-1
2 Becker’s Hospital Review: How Hospital can protect the bottom line, increase efficiency by outsourcing key revenue cycle functions -
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/how-hospitals-can-protect-the-bottom-line-increase-efficiency-by-outsourcing-key-revenue-
cycle-functions.html
3 The Factoring Blog: Archive for the ‘Medical Coding Industry News’ - https://www.thefactoringblog.com/category/medical-coding-industry-news/
4 ICD-10 Monitor: Winning the War for ICD-10 Coding Talent - https://www.icd10monitor.com/winning-the-war-for-icd-10-coding-talent
5 PR Newswire: Medical Billing Outsourcing Market Worth 169 Billion by 2024 -
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/medical-billing-outsourcing-market-worth-169-billion-by-2024-grand-view-research-inc-596501001.html
6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Center for Health Statistics - https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/electronic-medical-records.htm
7 AARP Public Policy Institute: The Medicare Beneficiary Population - https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/health/fs149_medicare.pdf
8 3M Health Information Systems: Real Results with Real results with 3MSM CodeRyteSM CodeAssistSM System -
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/991633O/3m-cr-codeassist-system-real-results.pdf?&fn=CodeAssist_Real%20Results.pdf
9 Healthcare Business Today: A Clinical Analysis of Outsourcing Your Medical Coding -
http://www.healthcarebusinesstoday.com/a-clinical-analysis-of-outsourcing-your-medical-coding/
10 3M Health Information Systems: Medical Imaging Physicians, Inc. -
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1083248O/3m-coderyte-mip-case-study.pdf?fn=3m_coderyte_mip_cs.pdf
11 Becker’s Hospital Review: Offshore Coding: The remedy for healthcare’s ICD-10 -
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/offshore-coding-the-remedy-for-healthcare-s-icd-10-hangover.html

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