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Many factors can affect the outcome of a patient’s care. Some patients may have many other factors, such as diabetes, smoking or cancer, which can affect the care given to them and their overall recovery. In the past, Hendrick has not always properly recorded and coded these for patients, which may have an effect on some quality measures reported.
In response to the need for better documentation, Hendrick has worked with outside consultants and began implementing changes based on their recommendations. We believe the quality improvement process should include outside perspectives to show us potential areas of improvement. Our work with consultants is just one example of our dedication to continually improving processes and services. The ultimate goal is better care for our patients. To view our quality measures, click on the links below:
About Medical Record Coding
Healthcare organizations use coded medical records to measure care quality at hospitals. The organizations decided what records to include in certain quality measurements based on the conditions coded in them.
Codes are the special language of a medical record. Coders use thousands of different code numbers to tell health professionals about each specific condition of the patient based on the information recorded in the record by the physician. Codes help health professionals reviewing the record to easily see all the different conditions affecting a patient based on the code numbers included.
Coders will code conditions strictly based on the information recorded by the physician.
The more specific the physician describes a condition, the more specific a code the coder is able to record. For example, there is a general code number for pneumonia, but under the category of pneumonia there are hundreds of more specific code numbers to better describe the type, cause or severity of the pneumonia
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