Honolulu General Hospital Policy Title: Physician Queries Policy: Physician Queries are used as the sole method of communication between coders and...

If you have suspected there are problems in the physician query process for a while now, and you have planned to review the policy and query form to look for any compliance issues and would rather find the problem yourself before the Office of the Inspector General finds them. Evaluate the physician query at a facility.

Review the following below for appropriateness

Evaluate the policy and procedure on all aspects, including:

-Standards for completion of a proper physician query, Appropriate format of the policy, Grammar, Form Design, Process described, Need to meet discharged not final billed (DNFB) standards

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Honolulu General HospitalPolicy Title: Physician Queries Policy: Physician Queries are used as the sole method of communication between coders and physicians.It should be used when there are problems with incomplete documentation, conflicting”r diagnoses,recommendations for improvement in medical practices, incomplete histories and physicals, incompletedischarge summaries, and other documentation issues. Procedure:Task Person Responsible 1. Review medical record to determine principal diagnoses, secondary diagnoses, Coderprincipal procedure, and other procedures 2. Complete physician query form (see attached) Coder 3. Complete envelope with physician’s mailing address Coder 4. Mail physician query with a selfuaddressed, stamped envelope enclosed Coder 5. When query is returned, review physician documentation and make the Codernecessary adjustments to the code assignment 6. File the physician query in the medical record Coder 7. Give copy of the completed query to the coding supervisor Coder Effective date: May 1, 2012