The Coding Unit is a fundamental component of our EMR system. This unit ensures accurate and standardized coding of diagnoses, procedures, and treatments within patient records. Our skilled and certified medical coders play a crucial role in this process, ensuring that all inpatient data across all campuses of Indus Hospital is coded according to the latest ICD-10-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, Clinical Modification)standards. Previously, coding was done based on ICD-9-CM. Coders facilitate effective communication among healthcare professionals. Accurate medical coding improves accuracy, streamlines and enhances data analysis for research and quality improvement initiatives.
The Medical Coding Unit is responsible for coding inpatient data across all Indus Hospital campuses using ICD-10 codes. Additionally, our doctors, who have been trained by the coding unit, handle outpatient and ER coding. We take pride in being the first hospital where OPD and ER coding is performed.
The unit strictly adheres to industry standards and regulations for medical coding practices. This ensures accuracy, consistency, and compliance with coding guidelines and regulations, including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
The Medical Coding Unit leverages coded information to derive valuable insights for the hospital’s research and quality improvement initiatives. This data analysis supports evidence-based practices, research studies, and overall quality enhancement in healthcare.
The coding unit provides ongoing training and conducts quality assurance programs to maintain coding accuracy and proficiency. This ensures that our coders stay updated with the latest coding guidelines and practices. A training program is also designed for internal and external candidates. This program comprises of two separate training programs; Advanced medical coding training and Cancer registry training. (I-CCR)
This advanced ICD medical coding training is designed to teach the fundamentals of medical coding and to advance coding skills by reviewing clinical concepts of commonly treated conditions to help readily assign the correct codes and efficiently work with clinician. This training helps establish careers in a financially rewarding field because successful medical coding requires that a patient’s diagnosis justifies the service or procedure the provider performed. The data extracted from coding is used for many purposes including reimbursement and quality and population health reporting.
The coding unit generates monthly and daily reports for various organizations, including the Government of Sindh and the World Health Organization (WHO). These reports contribute to public health monitoring and research efforts.
Furthermore, upon request from doctors, the unit releases data for research purposes, supporting medical research and analysis. The coding unit also plays a role in training newly hired doctors and nurses on correct documentation entry and assigning appropriate codes in OPD & ER Coding. By ensuring accurate coding practices, we improve data integrity, support efficient healthcare processes, and contribute to meaningful research and reporting requirements. Our adherence to HIPAA regulations ensures patient privacy and data security in all coding-related activities.
The Cancer Registry Unit at Indus Hospital and Health Network is dedicated to comprehensive data collection, analysis, and reporting of cancer cases within our network. This unit maintains a centralized cancer patient database, capturing patient demographics, tumour characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes. Our Cancer Registry Unit is equipped with key features that enable effective cancer data management and support various initiatives.
The unit ensures the comprehensive collection and management of cancer-related data, capturing essential information to track cancer incidence, prevalence, and outcomes. This includes data on patient demographics, tumor characteristics, treatment modalities, and long-term follow-up.
The Cancer Registry Unit integrates with our EMR system and other healthcare databases, facilitating data capture and updates. This integration ensures that relevant cancer data is captured and updated in real-time, improving the accuracy and timeliness of information.
The Cancer Registry Unit adheres to national and international cancer registry data collection and reporting standards. This ensures the data collected is accurate, reliable, and consistent, enabling meaningful analysis and benchmarking.
The unit has robust data analysis and reporting capabilities, enabling the identification of trends, patterns, and potential areas for improvement in cancer care. By analyzing the data, we can derive insights to guide evidence-based practices, clinical decision-making, and quality improvement initiatives.
The Cancer Registry Unit plays a role in population health management initiatives. By identifying high-risk groups, evaluating screening programs, and measuring the impact of interventions, the unit helps develop targeted prevention and treatment strategies to improve population health.
The cancer registry unit provides ongoing training and conducts quality assurance programs to maintain accuracy and proficiency in cancer registry. A training program is also designed for internal and external candidates. This program comprises of two separate training programs; Advanced medical coding training and Cancer registry training. (I-CCR)
This cancer registry training program is designed to familiarize students with concept of cancer registry and cancer registrar. It will also provide an overview of oncology coding and staging system (ICD-O-3, the MP/H rules) focused on coding clinical information from medical records.
In 2016, under the umbrella of My Child Matters (MCM) grant, we developed an in-house software for the Cancer Registry Unit. Since then, the registry has been established across multiple campuses, including government hospitals where facilities were lacking, to train and facilitate data collection. The Cancer Registry Unit has expanded to Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Balochistan, and Nawab shah, collaborating with hospitals in these regions for data collection. In 2021, an adult cancer registry was also initiated, allowing us to facilitate both hospital-based and population-based cancer registries. The Cancer Registry Unit utilizes the ICD-O 3 coding system for accurate classification and standardization of cancer cases.
The Data Management Unit is responsible for the efficient and secure storage, organization, and retrieval of patient health records within our EMR system. This unit plays a critical role in ensuring that authorized healthcare professionals across our network can access patient information seamlessly.
The unit maintains a secure, centralized storage system for patient health records in an electronic format. This ensures data integrity and confidentiality.
The unit scans and attaches important patient documents, such as consent forms, surgical safety checklists, and patient’s own outside investigation reports, to each patient’s electronic medical record. This allows for easy access and retrieval of relevant information.
By efficiently managing and organizing patient health records, the Data Management Unit ensures the availability of accurate and up-to-date information for healthcare professionals, supports data-driven decision-making and complies with legal and regulatory requirements.
The Release of Information Unit at Indus Hospital and Health Network is responsible for facilitating the timely and secure release of patient information upon request. This unit ensures that patients have access to their medical records, investigation reports, summaries, and other relevant documents in compliance with legal and privacy regulations.
The unit enables patients to request and access their own medical records, investigation reports, death certificates, clinical summaries, and other relevant information. This empowers patients to be actively involved in their healthcare decisions and have a complete understanding of their medical history.
The Release of Information Unit strictly adheres to legal requirements, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), to protect patient privacy and data. All requests for information are handled with utmost confidentiality and in compliance with applicable regulations.
The unit verifies the authenticity and validity of requests for patient information. This ensures that the information is released to the right individuals and safeguards patient privacy and data security.
The ROI Unit also facilitates changes to patient information upon request, such as name changes due to marriage or divorce, spelling corrections, and updates to contact details like phone numbers and addresses.
A.F. Ferguson & Co. (PWC)
Mohsin Tayyebaly & Co.
EY Ford Rhodes