The Benefits of Single Path Coding & How TruBridge Can Help

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Join us for our upcoming CEU-accredited webinar on Single Path Coding, happening December 2.  Discover how combining facility and professional coding workflows can streamline accuracy, reduce denials, and strengthen your revenue cycle.

In this blog, learn how Single Path Coding streamlines facility and professional coding. Discover the benefits and see how TruBridge Encoder Technology supports efficiency.

Single Path Coding: A Smarter Way to Streamline Facility and Professional Coding

Hospitals and health systems are always looking for ways to simplify operations and improve coding accuracy. Many still rely on separate teams of coders: Facility Coders, who handle the technical side of care, and Professional (Pro Fee) Coders, who code the physician or qualified healthcare professional’s work.

While this split approach has worked in the past, it often leads to duplicate work, inconsistencies, and delays in billing. That’s where Single Path Coding comes in—a more efficient and unified way to manage both sides of the coding process.

What Is Single Path Coding?

Single Path Coding, also called Dual Coding, is a unified approach to medical coding where one coder performs both the facility coding and the professional coding for the same patient encounter within the same workflow.

Traditionally, hospitals and health systems rely on two separate coding teams: one focused on the technical component (facility coding) and another focused on the professional component (physician or QHP services). In a Single Path Coding model, those responsibilities are combined into a single role known as a Single Path Coder.

This integrated process eliminates duplicate work, improves consistency across claims, and allows for faster and more accurate billing. By having one coding professional manage both parts of the encounter, organizations can reduce costs, improve charge capture, and strengthen alignment between clinical and financial documentation.

How Single Path Coding Works

In a Single Path Coding model, the traditional separation between facility coding and professional coding is removed, creating a single, unified workflow. Instead of two coders independently reviewing the same patient record, a Single Path Coder completes both types of coding for each patient encounter.

Here’s how it works in three steps:

Unified Review: The Single Path Coder reviews the entire patient record, covering both technical services (room, equipment, support staff) and professional services (physician or QHP procedures).
Simultaneous Coding: The coder assigns both facility and professional codes in a single pass, reducing duplicate work, correcting discrepancies in real time, and ensuring claims are accurate and aligned.
Faster Turnaround and Upskilling: By managing both coding components, claims are submitted more quickly, denials are reduced, and coders expand their skills to handle a more flexible and comprehensive coding role.

Why More Hospitals Are Adopting Single Path Coding

Hospitals and health systems are embracing Single Path Coding as part of broader efforts to optimize revenue cycle management and strengthen operational efficiency. Beyond faster claim processing, this approach supports better alignment between clinical documentation and billing, reduces risk of compliance issues, and allows coding teams to be more agile.

The Key Benefits of Single Path Coding

Lower Overhead Costs: One coding specialist reviews and codes each patient record, eliminating duplicate work between departments.
Better Charge Capture: Single Path Coders can see the full picture of a patient encounter, ensuring that all services and relative value units (RVUs) are properly captured.
“Lag” days are reduced: With one coder handling both sides, claims get submitted sooner and cash flow improves.
Fewer Claim Denials: Stronger alignment of the codes reported between facility and professional claims helps prevent errors and reduces payer rejections.
Career Growth for Coders: Facility and Pro Fee Coders can upskill into Single Path Coder or Single Path Coding Auditor roles, opening up new career paths.

Curious How TruBridge Encoder Supports Single Path Coding?

At TruBridge, we help healthcare organizations move toward a more efficient coding model with TruBridge Encoder Technology. Our solution is designed to simplify workflows and support coders as they adapt to Single Path Coding.

The TruBridge Encoder helps your team:

Streamline the entire coding workflow for both facility and professional encounters
Improve accuracy and compliance with built-in validation tools
Integrate seamlessly with your existing EHR systems
Access advanced reporting and analytics for better decision-making

By combining expert training with the right technology, TruBridge helps hospitals achieve faster, more accurate coding and a stronger financial foundation. 

Ready to see it in action?

Request a demo of TruBridge Encoder Technology to learn how your organization can simplify workflows and improve revenue integrity through Single Path Coding.