Are you coding all the care you provide?

A study in the Annals of Family Medicine (Sept./Oct. 2004) found that family physicians manage multiple problems in one visit yet tend to undercode the care that they provide. The discrepancy between what physicians actually do and what they document in the chart or on the bill may adversely affect how quality assessment, guideline implementation, education, research, administration, and funding are determined, according to the study's researchers.