Gastrointestinal Diseases and Treatment

Gastrointestinal diseases are some of the common diseases in the human body. Thus,
mistakes in coding and billing can result in huge financial losses for a healthcare organization.
Being a specialty area, diseases of the gastrointestinal system have specialty codes which a coder
may not be familiar with if they lack specialty knowledge. Knowing healthcare providers who
specialize in gastrointestinal system can help coders to accurately capture coding and billing
information for proper reimbursement as the specialized healthcare providers will be able to help
them with specialty knowledge that they may not be familiar with.
With proper knowledge, coders can accurately capture the many gastrointestinal
conditions and their treatment. Gastrointestinal diseases are diseases that affect the
gastrointestinal tract which stretches from the mouth and ends at the anus. There are many
diseases that affect the system. Some of the common diseases of gastrointestinal system include
colorectal cancer, food poisoning, and lactose intolerance (Levine et al., 2017). Their symptoms
include nausea, abdominal pain, fever, and vomiting. Gastrointestinal conditions such as
colorectal cancer are very serious and can result in death while many others are relatively minor.
Regardless of the seriousness of the condition, it is important for one to seek timely
treatment for their condition. There are many treatment methods for gastrointestinal disorders.
The treatment depends on whether on the cause of the condition. For instance, antibiotics are
mainly used to treat conditions that are caused by bacteria. The most common antibiotics used to
treat gastrointestinal disorders include penicillin and monobactam antibiotics (Levine et al.,
2017). Apart from antibiotics, the other common treatment of gastrointestinal conditions is
hydration.

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The various gastrointestinal conditions discussed here are usually treated by a
gastroenterologist. Gastroenterologists are physicians who focus on problems that affect the
digestive system. They treat some of the most common conditions of the gastrointestinal system
such as peptic ulcer disease, hepatitis, and colon cancer.

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References

Levine, M. E., Muth, E. R., Gianaros, P. J., Koch, K. L., & Stern, R. M. (2017). Gastrointestinal
system. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Cambridge
handbooks in psychology. Handbook of psychophysiology (p. 258–283). Cambridge
University Press.