An Interview with a Physician  

Category: Practice Management

By: Suzan Berman (Hauptman), MPM, CPC, CEMC, CEDC

As much of a team as a physician and coder should be, it is rare to get them to sit down together in a room and talk over the issues of the day. The physicians are in the office, in the hospital, and in the operating room amongst other locations and the coder is busy coding all of the services the physician provides.

One day, I saw a surgeon in the hall and asked if we could just sit and talk. He welcomed me into his office and asked what was on my mind. I explained that there wasn't anything specific, but just that I wanted to talk as we never have time for such an event. He had a few moments and we started to talk about how our lives connect and how better we could communicate with one another.

He understood how busy my day was trying to track him or his colleagues down for answers ...