Graduation Year
2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
D.B.A.
Degree Granting Department
Business Administration
Major Professor
Sunil Mithas, Ph.D.
Co-Major Professor
Richard Tarpey, D.B.A.
Committee Member
Dahlia Robinson, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Christos Pantzalis, Ph.D.
Keywords
billing fraud, coding accuracy, evaluation and management coding, physician coding, healthcare and physician attitudes
Abstract
Physicians across the United States are burdened with the pressure of accurate coding while trying to maintain quality patient care. Despite the economic importance of coding accuracy, investigators have not reached consensus on the factors that contribute to coding errors. This study fills this gap by investigating physician characteristics that explain the variation in physician coding accuracy, specifically evaluation and management upcoding and downcoding errors. An electronic survey was distributed to 325 physicians that measured physicians’ attitudes towards risk and coding self-efficacy. Regression analysis found physicians with low self-efficacy had more conservative coding behaviors, resulting in higher incidences of downcoding. Physicians with high risk-seeking attitudes coded more aggressively, resulting in higher incidences of upcoding. This study is the first to empirically investigate physician personality characteristics that determine upcoding and downcoding behavior and suggests that physician payment policies, to be effective, must neutralize the effect of physician personality on code selection and reimbursement outcomes.
Scholar Commons Citation
Champagnie, Samantha J., "Physician Self-Efficacy and Risk-Taking Attitudes as Determinants of Upcoding and Downcoding Errors: An Empirical Investigation" (2020). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/8522
Included in
Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Policy Commons
