The future of medical coding is promising and today there is an increasing demand for professional medical coders and billers. Medical coding makes it easier to report and track thousands of medical services, quantities of injectable drugs, their supplies, etc. Additionally, it has the potential to standardize healthcare representation and language. These include numerous acronyms, descriptions, names, procedures and eponyms for every disease.
The growing demand for standardization is increasing the scope of coding-based jobs. Let us take you through some of the top trends in the medical coding industry and shed some light on critical market segmentation.
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The future of medical coding is promising and today there is an increasing demand for professional medical coders and billers. Medical coding makes it easier to report and track thousands of medical services, quantities of injectable drugs, their supplies, etc. Additionally, it has the potential to standardize healthcare representation and language. These include numerous acronyms, descriptions, names, procedures and eponyms for every disease.
The growing demand for standardization is increasing the scope of coding-based jobs. Let us take you through some of the top trends in the medical coding industry and shed some light on critical market segmentation.
ICD (International Classification of Diseases) has become the largest segment and is expected to grow further
Declining public health and rising diseases around the world have boosted the demand for trained and experienced medical coders who can accurately use ICD codes. Every time a disease is on the rise, it becomes necessary to correctly document its impact. For example, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases are the number one reason for deaths worldwide. They claim approximately 17.9 million lives every year. In this case, the future of medical coding will be affected positively as an increase in cardiovascular diseases will directly boost demand for medical coding solutions.
The implementation of the latest version of ICD codes could set the ground for new trends in medical billing and is likely to play an important role in the standardization of medical coding. The ICD-11 version is currently used in 35 countries and allows member states to translate ICD into their native languages, boosting implementation. This version contains 17,000 unique codes for diseases, death causes and injuries along with 120,000 codable terms. Navigating this complex coding universe on their own can be challenging for healthcare businesses as the task demands precision and accuracy. This implies that the future of medical coding will be full of new opportunities.
According to Global Newswire, the medical coding market in North America could reach $48.35 billion by 2030 making it the largest shareholder in market revenue. At the same time, the USA holds the biggest market share in the North American region owing to factors like growth in chronic diseases and the geriatric population. It will stimulate the growth of the medical coding industry in the region.
The American Heart Association Research Report shows that heart-related diseases cause one in seven deaths in the USA. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death at 43.8%, followed by strokes at 16.8%, high blood pressure at 9.4%, heart failure at 9.0%, artery diseases at 3.1%, and additional cardiovascular illnesses causing 17.9% of deaths.
A report by ResearchAndMarket.com indicates that the medical coding market could reach $28,363.63 million by 2026.
In January 2021, Innoventrum partnered with Dental Medical Billing and introduced a premier credentialing program focusing on dental-to-medical billing and cross-coding. The program allows participants to earn designations in nine specializations including sleep apnea, sedation dentistry, implant coding, oral surgery, CBCT scans coding, and reimbursement.
Looking at the report’s scope, it is evident that current trends in medical coding are transforming medical services, healthcare diagnosis, procedures and universal medical alphanumeric code equipment. The future of medical coding seems positive considering its use in the current scenario.
Medical coding can help create a well-organized patient care record, streamline medical billing procedures, identify improvement areas in healthcare and accelerate salary distribution of employees. It is a fact that medical coding can increase healthcare efficiency by automating a substantial amount of work.
Partner with Valerion Health and leverage the expertise of seasoned AHIMA & AAPC certified coders to optimize your business operations. Get in touch today.
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