AHIMA and APPCA - 1029 Words

AHIMA AND AAPC In this paper I’m going to talking about what AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) and APPC(American Academy of Professional Coders) code of ethics are and the relevance that these two have to the coding profession. Then I’m going to explain how AHIMA and APPC code of ethics are incorporated into the Medical Insurance Specialist (MIS) field, and why continuing your education is important in this field. Hopefully after reading this paper you will have learned the difference between AHIMA and APPC codes of ethics. American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) was founded in 1988 to provided education and professional certification to physician-based medical coders and to elevate the standards of†¦show more content†¦To be certified with AHIMA, the coders will have to take a test of 60 multiple choice questions, six inpatient coding scenarios and seven outpatient coding scenarios, and to maintain this certification the coder is required t o provide proof of earning 20 CEU’s (Continuing Education Units) for the past two years. (Ross, K. Oct.30, 2013) American Health Information Management Association has eleven different codes of ethics that they like to have their members and credentialed nonmembers to follow. Some of those ethics are: †¢ Apply accurate, complete, and consistent coding practices for the production of high-quality of healthcare data. †¢ Report all healthcare data elements required for external reporting purposes completely and accurately, in accordance with regulatory, and documentation standards. †¢ Assign a report all the coders and dates that are clearly and consistently support by the health record. †¢ Query the provider for clarification and additional documentation prior to code assignment when there is conflicting information †¢ Refuse to change reported codes or the narrative of codes so that the meanings are misrepresented. †¢ Refuse to participate in or support coding or documentation practices intended to inappropriately increase payment, qualify for insurance policy coverage, or skew data by means that do not comply with federal and state rules. †¢ Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in situations supporting proper coding