Founded by five businessmen in Minnesota in 1902, today 3M employs around 88,000 and last year generated $30 billion. The company initially started out in mineral mining – Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing – and then diversified into mining products. After about a decade it started paying dividends to its shareholders and became financially viable.
Sponsored School(s)
Without any large breakthroughs in mining, the company began encouraging its workforce to develop innovative ideas. Out of this effort sprung waterproof sandpaper, masking tape, and the adhesive that is today known the world over as Scotch Tape. Later the company would develop Post-it notes. Shortly before the stock market crash in 1929, 3M had formed a sister company Durex to begin operations in Europe, and in 1946 it was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By the 1950s the company had offices in six countries outside the United States.
Among its wide range of products and services, 3M offers some of the most widely used medical billing and coding software programs in the nation. Some of these include:
- 3M 360 Encompass System – a macro management system that incorporates clinical documentation and medical coding
- 3M Clinical Claims Editor – an program that analyzes patient billing claims records and scans for coding errors
- 3M CodeRyte CodeAssist System – this program imports patient health care records and automatically generates the correct billing codes associated with the recognized procedures
- 3M Coding and Reimbursement System Plus – this software simplifies the billing and coding process by showing its user multiple displays of databases that includes multiple DRG indexes, ICD-10 tables, and other useful tools
- 3M Coding Reference and 3M Coding Reference Plus – an industry-wide system of medical billing and coding reference tools designed to be easily accessible online
- 3M DRG Assurance Program – this program helps healthcare professionals provide highly accurate coding that maximizes returns on billing claims
- 3M Health Data Management System – this integrated healthcare data system incorporates information from medical appointments as well as in- and out-patient services, and then analyzes this to greatly improve data management and medical billing/coding by extension
In addition to these useful software programs, 3M also offers resources for those in the healthcare field who want to improve their ability to transition to the ICD-10:
- 3M ICD-10 Education Program
- ICD-10 Translation Tools
3M Coding and Reimbursement System Plus
This is 3M’s latest software innovation developed using the most up-to-date billing and coding databases and regulations. Those who use this software can choose between browsing databases to locate particular codes, or use the system’s automated code generation feature that inserts appropriate codes. This system is also web-based and therefore requires less maintenance and uses cloud-computing to store drafts of billing and coding statements.
In addition to simplifying the actual act of filling in codes, the Coding and Reimbursement System Plus makes working in this field more manageable by including updates that incorporate the latest changes in:
- Regulatory changes
- Classification guideline updates
- Coding system improvements
This system can be integrated with other 3M products, and the company also provides technical support.