Registered Nurses perform EGO's reimbursement coding functions, reviewing the medical record and determining the billable services documented by the Practice's physician. We believe, and our experience confirms, that someone clinically trained and experienced in emergency medicine will perform a more accurate translation than will someone trained only in medical terminology and coding, without a clinical background. There are more than 300 distinct physician services commonly rendered in the emergency department setting that can be reported for reimbursement purposes, and an endless number of ways emergency physicians document these services. Understanding what each service is and what is acceptable documentation of it, is the key to capturing all emergency physician revenue properly due to the Practice. Only Registered Nurses can accomplish this with consistent quality.

In other specialties, the range and complexity of services are more quantifiable and can often be recognized through "key word" association by a non-clinician. The variety of cases that present in the emergency setting require a far more sophisticated appreciation.

The result of non-clinician coding is significant under-coding, a pervasive and relentless problem for most billing companies. Our RN reimbursement coders make Emergency Groups' Office more effective in capturing all billable services than billing companies that do not use such staff. Regular quality reviews are performed internally with written evaluations provided for each coder.