Techy Surgeon · Workflows · Coding & prior auth

For the surgeon leaving RVUs on the table.

The op-note coding check

Tool: ClaudeSetup: 20 minutesCost: free

The workflow that pays for itself: an AI pass over your op note against CPT logic catches the documentation gaps and missed complexity before the coder does — and drafts the prior-auth letter while it's at it.

The setup

  1. Open Claude and save the starter prompt below.
  2. Paste a de-identified op note. Ask for the coding read first, then 'draft the prior-auth letter for [procedure]' as the follow-up.
  3. Compare against what was actually billed for a week. The deltas are your money conversation.

The starter prompt

Copy, then fill the brackets

Act as a surgical coding auditor with current CPT and NCCI edit knowledge. Review the de-identified op note below and produce: 1) SUPPORTED CODES — the CPT codes the documentation fully supports, each with the exact supporting phrase quoted; 2) AT-RISK CODES — codes I likely intend to bill that the note does not yet support, with the missing element named; 3) THE ONE SENTENCE — the single highest-value addition, written out ready to paste; 4) MODIFIERS — any that apply (laterality, staged, multiple procedures) with justification; 5) DENIAL RADAR — the most likely payer objection and the documentation that preempts it. Never upcode; flag anything aggressive. Note follows:

NotebookLM: NotebookLM answers from sources rather than auditing text — use Claude or ChatGPT here.

Privacy boundary: no PHI in consumer AI tools. Use de-identified text or your health system's covered enterprise instance. Every installable skill ships with the full checklist.

Go deeper, free

▶ Open this in the interactive workflow finder

The installed version

Members get this workflow as an installable skill with the video walkthrough — plus all 18 skills on the shelf, every update, and the member essays behind them.

Join · $150/yr until Sept 30$200 after · or just this batch, $79 once

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