BCAdvantage posted an article in its e-newsletter last week that discussed the forthcoming medical coding system overhaul, known as ICD-10. Although an updated medical coding system has been needed for a number of years, many in the health care industry fear the switch will “initially cause headaches for consumers and their doctors.”

According to the post, hospitals, insurance companies and many doctors all agree that the new medical coding systems was necessary to keep up with the ever-increasing new medical developments, but the problem with the new system is that it drastically increases the number of codes used to define various ailments and procedures to 155,000, which is ten times as many codes as are currently in use.

In addition, “some medical-industry officials also are concerned that consumers could see…an increase in billing errors. That can lead…to overcharging of patients, or an insurer denying payment for claim because it was submitted with an incorrect code. Some officials also expect an increase in billing fraud and more delays in payments to doctors and consumers.”

In a nutshell, when this new medical coding system goes into full-swing, it’s possible that Medicare, Medicaid and other third-party insurance companies will take longer to reimburse medical facilities. It’s quite possible that if it takes longer for medical facilities to receive payment from third-party payors, then it will take longer for medical facilities to pay their vendors. This is where PRN Funding’s accounts receivable factoring program enters the equation, as PRN Funding specializes in factoring healthcare vendor invoices made payable by medical facilities.

Click here to read the entire BCAdantage article: New medical coding system more precise, more complex.