The global maternity fee comprises services related to pregnancy performed by the payer in case a pregnant woman does not have health complications. Billing and coding in medicine is the procedure of diagnosing, medical testing, treating, and clinical documentation. It also involves the transcription of a patient’s data into conventional codes to bill the government, commercial payers, and employers for tangible reimbursement. According to Better Health Channel (2014), the period between the conception of a baby and delivery is an average of forty weeks. The period encompasses the first day of the last menstrual period, which is added to nine months and eventually to six weeks after birth.
Anything that is done to a woman after conception has the potential of affecting the unborn child. It is important to note that the third-party payer’s medical decision-making is usually dependent on the impact of anything that happens to the mother. Apart from that, any medical condition that existed before the mother’s pregnancy may also affect the normal pregnancy billing (Guest Contributor, 2018). For example, if a woman is asthmatic before conception, the payer should consider how the condition may affect the pregnancy. In another instance, the unborn baby may press the mother’s ribs, making it hard for her to breathe, hence there is a need for steroid consumption, which may harm the baby. Documentation is relevant in the above case, and it entails involving the payer in medical bills related to a specific condition.
From a pregnant woman’s perspective, the conditions of payment for bills should be flexible. The conditions should consider whether a specific complication existed before the pregnancy, during pregnancy, as a result of pregnancy, or if a new condition develops (Guest Contributor, 2018). For example, when an expectant mother falls while pregnant and fractures the arm, the bill should be settled since the injury does not directly impact the pregnancy. However, if the fetus’s weight triggered it, the third-party payer should pay the bill.
References
Better Health Channel. (2014). Baby due date. Web.
Guest Contributor. (2018). Capture the most specific diagnosis codes for pregnancy. Web.