Discussion:
Medical Terminology
You work in an orthopedic physician's office as a medical assistant and are responsible for filling out insurance forms and following through on denials. You have become friendly with an insurance company representative in the office of an insurance company with whom you regularly submit claims. You are finding that many of the denials are often based on a misunderstanding of what is being billed. It appears that the insurance company representative does not understand enough medical terminology to understand what is being billed. For example, when your physician bills a patient for an x-ray of the calcaneus done in his office, the insurance company denies that claim saying that the patient had a renal calculus treated 3 months ago. Under the pre-existing clause of the insurance plan, this x-ray is not covered.
What are some ways you could help your friend in the insurance office improve her knowledge of medical terminology?