Pediatric Neurosurgery Procedural Coding: Current Lay of the Land.
Only 15.7% of pediatric neurosurgeons feel confident coding without billing support.
Pediatric Neurosurgery Procedural Coding: Current Lay of the Land.
Physician compensation models increasingly rely on productivity metrics, with current procedural terminology (current procedural terminology) codes and relative value unit (relative value unit) assignments standardizing procedure complexity and informing reimbursement.
The Pediatric Coding and Reimbursement Committee developed a 24-question survey using Modified Delphi methodology to assess coding habits, knowledge, training, resources, and perceptions within pediatric neurosurgery.
Response rate for the survey was 21.6%.
Overall, 94.2% of the respondents were full-time attendings and the remainder were fellows (3.3%) and residents (2.5%).
Although 55.6% code independently or with billing departments, others rely solely on billing assistance.
Notably, 59.3% have never performed formal coding training postresidency, and 30.6% do not know how to find formal training.
The pediatric coding landscape features predominantly large academic practices with relative value unit-based compensation, yet individual surgeons report disparities between coding importance and abilities.
Despite expressing poor coding knowledge and limited awareness of formal training resources, pediatric neurosurgeons demonstrate high interest in coding education while simultaneously expressing poor coding knowledge and lack of awareness of formal training or online resources.