What does abstracting refer to in the medical billing process?

In the medical billing process, abstracting specifically refers to the practice of extracting relevant codes from the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) that are necessary for billing. This includes identifying diagnoses, procedures, and any other pertinent details that need to be translated into codes for insurance claims.

This step is crucial as it ensures that the billing process accurately reflects the services provided to the patient, which can directly affect reimbursement from insurance companies. By extracting the right codes, medical billers can submit claims that accurately represent the patient's treatment and comply with coding guidelines. This contributes to preventing denied claims and ensuring that healthcare providers receive the correct payment for their services. The other options, such as creating invoices, reviewing patient histories, and verifying insurance coverage, are related to the overall billing process but do not specifically define the act of abstracting within it.