Does a hospital coding team ever make health care decisions, such as the decision to place a diagnosis on a patient's problem list (two years after the patient was seen and testing billed)?

If a review of a medical record shows definite evidence of a diagnosis that a doctor did not list on the "face sheet" they may add it to the face sheet. The coding team does not make treatment decisions, but they do occasionally clean up the documentation mistakes of the attending doc. If there is definite evidence in the chart, it is both appropriate and improves accuracy of the record.

Not decisions, but suggestions that can significantly influence billing, a model that the majority of inpatient facilities have embraced in order to stay afloat financially. Physicians still decide if suggestions appropriate or not, unfortunately most of the time approving them due to the intrinsic conflict of interests.