BWH
Inpatient Coder Query
BWH Health
Information Services (HIS) will begin an inpatient coding query process to
attending physicians via email. An inpatient coder may need clarifying
information regarding discharge diagnoses on a patient. The coding process is
directly related to reimbursement and depicts the severity of the patient's
condition. Using more specific ICD-9 codes will improve the accuracy, integrity
and quality of our data as well as accurately reflect the patient's condition.
If an email
query to the attending physician is necessary after discharge and the attending
physician can offer more specific diagnoses or clarify information, the
physician will be asked to amend the discharge summary via the discharge module
or dictate an addendum if it is a NICU or Hospice admission. The coder
will send the email from bwhcoderquery@partners.org. We do not anticipate a large volume
of emails and wanted you to be aware of the new query process after discharge.
Amending the discharge summary will assure the documentation is in the
BWH medical record necessary for compliant coding. Questions may be directed to
Cynthia Vieira, BWH Coding Manager at cvieira@partners.org or Jackie Raymond at jraymond@partners.org