In order to correctly report on health-care claims the conditions that patients have and the services they receive during office visits, medical assistants need to understand the basics of medical coding. Medical coding is the translation of medical terms for diagnoses and procedures into code numbers selected from standardized code sets. Codes on health-care claims explain to payers that the services patients received were medically necessary and complied with the payer's rules. Finding the correct codes can require detective work! The reward is accurate claims that bring the maximum appropriate reimbursement to the physicians in your medical office.