The quality of the practice of coding medical records plays an essential role within any medical facility and could be of vital importance to you at some time during your lifetime. This type of data storage, be it in the local doctors office or the large new medical center, keeps important information concerning treatment and costs in a complete and up to the minute format enabling you or authorized personnel to retrieve a detailed medical record quickly and efficiently when you require treatment or to assess associated treatment costs.

Take, for example, a situation where you have been involved in a bad road accident and you require immediate medical attention. You are whisked away to the local medical center or hospital by ambulance and speedily admitted to the emergency unit. Upon arrival coding medical of medical records begins, information about you is immediately gathered together and you are assigned a personal medical record number to form a unique medical record or if you have previously been a patient at the hospital, your existing medical record file or electronic medical record (EMR) is retrieved from the archives using your pre-existing unique medical record number.

The diagnosis and treatment of this latest incident is completely detailed along side any earlier treatments you may have received and with information supplied by your family or primary care doctor and whichever specialists have been involved. The finished result is a full and accurate record of any conditions which existed prior to and including this accident, and any past and up to the minute medications you may be taking. Of course, all of this information is required to assess your current condition and to ensure the most effective treatment is administered in order to treat you accordingly.

When you are back on your feet again, medical record coding carries on working for you. Apart from the fact that a precise record of your health treatments is created and maintained, (for use the next time it is needed) the information stored in your records can be extremely helpful when you are completing your tax returns. By simply filling out a medical records request form you are able to easily access records of your specific charges and deductible costs you have incurred.

Basically your coded medical record will offer you a clear and up-to-date picture of any amounts which you or your insurance company have incurred for the treatments, services or exams you received. They are coded during any hospital visit and will be itemized within the coding of your medical records.