Supervisory Medical Records Technician - Coder

Summary

This position serves the Consolidated Coding Service Center which is located at the Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, PA.

Duties

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Supervisory Medical Record Technician (Outpatient) (Consolidated Coding Unit (CCU)) provides oversight of a group of Medical Record Technicians Coders, with administrative responsibility for planning and directing the work of subordinate staff. MRTs (Coder) are skilled in classifying medical data from patient health records in the hospital setting, and/or physician-based settings, such as physician offices, group practices, multi-specialty clinics, and specialty centers. These coding practitioners analyze and abstract patients' health records, and assign alphanumeric codes for each diagnosis and procedure. Duties include, but are not limited to: Collaboratively work with the Chief HIM at each facility within the assigned region/network in order to coordinate work related to the consolidated coding unit and resolve any problems which could impede the progress of the unit. Coordinate and maintain effective communication with the medical centers and CPAC within an assigned region/network in order to accomplish coding assignments for the consolidated coding unit. Evaluating the performance of subordinate staff, approving sick and annual leave requests, identifying educational or training needs, resolving employee complaints, and taking disciplinary actions Inform higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload. Recommend employees for promotions, reassignments, recognitions, retention or release of probationary employees, or other changes of assigned personnel. Make decisions on the selection of employees for vacant or new positions. Serve as an expert coding resource to ensure accuracy and integrity of all coding. Collaborate with revenue, compliance, and other departments to support coding accuracy that is consistent with the official guidelines for coding and reporting. Resolve claim edits referred to coding management and monitor reports for outstanding services, rejects, or uncoded discharges for inpatients and/or outpatients. Resolve claim denials related to coding errors and ensure coding corrections and rebilling, as required. They provide education to clinical and coding staff. Assess current audit findings activities and evaluate impact to coding and documentation practices. Oversees the reporting of coding and documentation audit results to leadership. Collect and prepare data for studies involving inpatient stays and outpatient encounters for clinical evaluation purposes, prepare and maintain a variety of complex records and daily, monthly, or "on demand" reports, as requested. Create and monitor outpatient reports, inpatient case mix reports, top DRGs, and key performance indicators to identify patterns, trends, and variations, investigate and evaluate potential causes for changes or problems, and take appropriate steps, in collaboration with the appropriate staff, to effect resolution or explain variances. Participate in the formulation of objectives and strategies using coded data to support goals for patient care, teaching, research, and optimizing management of resources. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: PD000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Position on extension: This position is designated as remote. Remote work is defined as full-time employment conducted outside of a VA facility or in VA-leased spaces. The option for remote work will be assessed continuously, and the selected individual may need to return to a VA office if required.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience and Education Experience. One year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, medical coding, and the structure and format of a health records; OR Education. An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. DOE with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical coding, and introduction to health records); OR Completion of an AHIMA approved coding program, or other intense coding training program of approximately one year or more that included courses in anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, basic ICD diagnostic/procedural, and basic CPT coding. The training program must have led to eligibility for coding certification/certification examination, and the sponsoring academic institution must have been accredited by a national U.S. DOE accreditor, or comparable international accrediting authority at the time the program was completed; OR Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education are qualifying for meeting the basic requirements. The following educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and creditable experience: Six months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, general understanding of medical coding and the health record, and one year above high school, with a minimum of 6 semester hours of health information technology courses. Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or hospital training obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces or the U.S. Maritime Service, under close medical and professional supervision, may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to six months of experience provided the training program included courses in anatomy, physiology, and health record techniques and procedures. Also, requires six additional months of creditable experience that is paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder). Certification: Must have either an AHIMA or AAPC Apprentice/Associate Level Certification to include Certified Coding Associate (CCA), Certified Professional Coder-Apprentice (CPC-A) and Certified Outpatient Coding-Apprentice (COC-A); a