Auditing Practices

As a future medical coder or reimbursement specialist, you may find that auditing is part of your regular job duties. There are different types of audit processes that may be used by a medical practice. For internal audits, this may be prospective or retrospective reviews. If the auditing is being completed by an external party such as a third-party payer or designee, then pre-payment or post-payment audits will be conducted.

Explore the main types of audits performed with best practices for doing so.

Include the following aspects in the discussion:

· Identify the pros and cons of the prospective and retrospective audit process.

· Highlight reasons why it is best practice to conduct internal audits.

· Describe why external audits may be conducted.

· Discuss your interest in auditing as part of a medical coder or reimbursement specialist duties. Is this a skill that you feel would be advantageous?