solution

“SMART MACHINES, SMARTER PEOPLE”

For this discussion board forum, you will read the following scenario and respond to this forum by answering the questions below.

Six weeks after the practice switched to a PM/EHR, Chris Yakamoto and Joseph Sanchez meet up at the coffee station. “Hey Chris, how’s it going,” asked Joseph. “Good, actually,” replied Chris. “This EHR–I was worriedI’d lose my job because of it, but it’s actually made it more interesting. I don’t spend all day entering charges from encounter forms anymore. Now I review the charges from the EHR, make any changes, and click the post button! I actually have time to read all those payer rule update notices now,” said Chris. “Same here,” replied Joseph.

“I used to get stressed about how many records I could code and still be accurate. Now I do a lot more reviewing and editing, applying what I know about guidelines and rules.” I guess there are still some things that we can do that computers can’t do,” said Chris as he finished his last sip of coffee and headed back to his desk.

• Think about how the job of the billing specialist and the coder have changed as a result of technology. What skills do you think are important for today’s billing specialist? For today’s coders?