Photo: German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons

How did general surgery office manager Joseph Lamm end up where he is today? He jokes that he stuck around at his first part-time medical billing customer service job because “it paid better than fast food!”

What started as a job that didn’t require Lamm to wear a paper hat became his profession. Today, Lamm is Office Manager for Stark County Surgeons, Inc, in Massillon, Ohio. And while he most assuredly doesn’t wear a paper hat, he does wear “many hats” for his relatively small general surgery practice. “Besides overseeing the daily running of the office, I do payroll, auditing, insurance verification, computer support, payment posting, and I step in whenever an unusual surgery needs to be coded.”

Lamm’s advice to coders and billers who are new to the profession?

“First and foremost, you absolutely have to know medical terminology,” he says. There is just no way around that. You have to know your -otomies from your -ectomies, lateral from medial, and distal from proximal. Then you have to fully understand basic human anatomy and the prefixes and suffixes that will guide you.”

“Once these basics are as ingrained as your first name, you have to be organized!” Lamm urges. He recommends that you start your own coding “bible.”

“Riffling through a pile of paper scraps looking for that note you wrote last month might work, but (1) you are wasting  time, (2) there is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for, and (3) there is no way to know that you will be able to decipher what are often just disorganized sentence fragments,” Lamm explains.

“So many times I see someone learn some new information just long enough to get through a task, and then that information is entirely lost the next day,” he relates. “That makes absolutely no sense. If you have put a lot of time into coding a complex surgery and you have learned something new, write down what you learned, and keep it neatly organized in one central location.”

Practical example: To learn his stuff and learn from other talented coders, Lamm participates in online discussion groups, including the Coding Institute’s General Surgery Discussion Group. ”One day there was an extensive discussion about hemorrhoidectomies. When I pulled out my CPT book, I discovered that there are 16 distinct codes for treating this problem, and that they are scattered over 3 pages. I organized them onto one sheet, with clear notes as to what each code means in plain English, and I also noted any references to other sources if I ever need to review them again.”

It is just this simple: “Coding has become very complex, and there is an enormous amount of information that you will need to access to do your job correctly and accurately. Unless you have a photographic memory, you will never be able to remember all of the minutiae that comes with this job. Establish your bible, keep it up to date, and never, ever let it go,” Lamm says.

Joseph Lamm has more great advice. Learn more from him in future posts on My Coding Career.

Hey there, new coder. Yes, you! Is your coding ‘bible’ a little skimpy right now? Bulk it up at one of our Reimbursement Road Classes, coming soon to a city near you.

You’re allowed to refer to official CPT, ICD-9 and HCPCS reference books during the exam, and they have lots of help for you beyond the code descriptors, stresses Leesa Isreal, CPC, CUC, CMBS.

“Did you know that you can find the answers to several of the CPC exam questions right in the notes that proceed every section of the CPT Manual?” Leesa points out. Spend some time before the test familiarizing yourself with CPT’s section guidelines, which often contain crucial how-to coding information.

And don’t forget the anatomy diagrams at the front of your CPT book. That, plus some basic anatomy prep, can turn any body knowledge question into a “gimme,” Leesa says.

There’s a new CPC exam prep class sprouting up in an area near you!