Is medical transcription and medical coding same?

Although medical transcription and medical coding sound to be somewhat similar they have a significant difference in the role they play in medical documentation. Medical transcription can be defined as a healthcare service sector were in the medical reports that are recorded by the healthcare professionals are transcribed. It involves a manual conversion of the voice recorded medical reports to the textual format. In contrast medical coding, also a healthcare service sector, involves the conversion of the medical reports of the patient into alphabetical and numeric codes that can be universally decoded. Medical coding also involves coding the services and the diagnostic procedures that are available for better medical documentation. The significant difference between medical transcription and medical coding is solely based on their purpose and their usage.

Medical coding involves retrieving patient medical diagnosis details as well as their billing details and encoding them in codes that are recognized in the country of practice. This plays a great deal in medical insurance coverage of the patients. Medical transcription, on the other hand, entails the textual conversion of physician to patient consultations and diagnosis. However, there is an interlinking of this with medical coding because after transcription a professional coding is necessary for medical insurance coverage related claims. However medical transcription, as opposed to medical billing, plays a significant role in patient care, diagnosis, and treatment. Medical transcription can be attributed to form a niche in the healthcare service sector in contrast to the medical coding which is widespread in all hospitals and healthcare organizations. It is estimated that recording patient interaction being a crucial task all healthcare organizations do not offer this service whereas most of the healthcare organizations have a medical coder. In contradiction to this however medical transcription and medical coding are indispensable and interdependent on each other. This is because with proper transcription of the patient information the coding is easy and effective.

The core essence of medical transcription can be attributed to the dictation by the physician. The transcribed information can be given manually in textual format or in the form of an electronic medical report. Additionally, medical coding also helps in medical record keeping but does not involve any dictation but is based on patient charts and the standard medical documentation codes. In addition, medical transcription is a service that benefits directly the physicians and patients. On the other hand, medical coding service not only benefits the physicians but also aids the private companies working in collaboration with healthcare organizations in providing medical insurance.

Thus finally we can come to this conclusion that although medical transcription and medical coding have a different purpose and require different skills and settings both are aimed at improving digitization in the healthcare setting with focus at holistic patient care.