Providers are experiencing a shrinking budget for education and training, leaving a serious shortage of qualified medical billers. The CMBA is addressing these needs through annual conferences, educational workshops, and an advanced program to certify medical billers. The CMBA will continue to do whatever is necessary to help disseminate information and provide the training necessary for our members to implement the new standards. CPT-4 The strengths are that providers and billers are familiar with codes and have learned to live with any weaknesses they might have. The major weakness of the codes presently in use is that often times they are not specific enough, leaving us to interpret which is most appropriate.
Present systems are very weak in enrollment data and are totally inadequate.
It is not practical to move to a single procedure classification on the schedule required for implementation of administrative standards. To attempt to do so would have devastating effects. It is better that it be done with careful consideration and done right the first time than to adhere to an arbitrary time schedule. Given the vastly disparate reporting requirements between inpatient and outpatient services different procedure coding systems should continue to be used and perhaps slowly revised into a more uniform system. ICD should be used for for the reporting of diagnosis information and not for administrative transactions.