What Your Coding Audits Are Trying to Tell You: Lessons Hidden Between the Lines

Coding audits do more than flag errors. They deliver valuable insights—if you know how to listen.

Every missed CC or MCC, every sequencing mistake, and every missed query opportunity carries a message about your organization’s workflows, education gaps, and potential risks. When you treat audits as a diagnostic tool rather than just a compliance task, you can turn findings into action plans that strengthen your revenue cycle, improve coding quality, and support clinical documentation improvement.

Here are some of the lessons hidden between the lines of your coding audit findings:

1. Repeated Missed Opportunities for Queries?

   Your providers may need more education, not just more queries. If your audits repeatedly show missed opportunities to clarify documentation, it could signal that physicians need additional support in understanding what coders are looking for—not just after the fact, but before documentation is completed.

2. Consistent Missed CCs or MCCs?

   Coders might understand coding guidelines but struggle with clinical interpretation. If CCs and MCCs are consistently missed, it may point to a need for more focused education on recognizing clinical clues within documentation, not just reviewing coding rules.

3. High Error Rates in Specific Service Lines?

   One-size-fits-all training may no longer be enough. If errors cluster in particular departments—like cardiology, orthopedics, or OB/GYN—targeted service-line-specific coding education can address nuances that general coding updates might miss.

4. Recurring Sequencing or Principal Diagnosis Errors?

   Systematic process reviews might be needed, not just coder coaching. When similar types of errors persist, it often indicates deeper issues in documentation practices, coding workflows, or EHR system design—not just individual coder performance.

At Health Information Associates, we built Atom Audit to help you move beyond surface-level findings. Atom Audit doesn't just show you what went wrong—it helps you spot patterns early, isolate root causes, and take action faster. With customized audit templates, easy-to-read dashboards, and the ability to drill down to specific error types, Atom Audit gives your team the clarity to turn audit data into real, strategic improvement.

Audits are talking. Atom Audit helps you listen.

👉 Learn more about how Atom Audit can transform your coding audit process. Contact us to schedule a demo.