Clinical Coding Specialist III- Full Time Days

Cape Fear Valley Health

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Thoroughly review the entire medical record to code specifically and accurately those conditions or diagnoses that were treated or affected the patient's plan of care. Verify medical records contain appropriate documentation to justify the selected principal diagnosis to identify comorbid conditions, complications and procedures to use for DRG Assignment. Maintain accurate case mix index from which administration makes critical management and strategic planning decisions.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Health Information Management required OR 8 years of equivalent training and experience required
RHIA, RHIT, CCS or other equivalent credentials required
5 years coding experience required, preferably in a hospital setting
2 years inpatient coding preferred
1 year Health Information Management experience in an acute care facility, Peer Review Organization, Quality Assurance, or Utilization Review preferred
Proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking the English language
Medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, familiarity with medical record content and an understanding of the Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set (UHDDS) definitions
Knowledge of ICD-CM coding principles under Prospective Payment System
Excellent communication skills
Understanding that decisions are made with very serious impact affecting hospital reimbursement and PRO review determinations
High degree of interpretation, analysis, planning, coordination, and organization of information
Decisions require intense mental effort and consideration of reimbursement ramifications
Ability to utilize experience, practices and organization to accomplish goals
Ability to assign accurate codes using good judgment in a timely manner within broad guidelines
Flexible and able to concentrate in a busy, noisy, and crowded environment with demands and interruptions 75% of the time

Nice To Haves

2 years inpatient coding preferred
1 year Health Information Management experience in an acute care facility, Peer Review Organization, Quality Assurance, or Utilization Review preferred

Responsibilities

Code diagnoses, treatments, and procedures according to the appropriate classification system for that category of patient encounter and in accordance with provisions of the Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set as well as the interpretation of these provisions as issued by the American Hospital Association and American Health Information Management Association and all governmental and private Third Party rules and regulations
Perform medical record abstracting of hospital admissions for reimbursement and statistical reporting
Concurrently code LTAC, Rehab and acute care inpatients based on prescribed requirements by payer, using a computerized encoder and DRG grouper
Explain to and communicate with physicians regarding the changing of principal diagnoses on the attestation statement, based on lab and other diagnostic findings, when the record may be subjected to PRO review due to vague attestation/documentation
Assess the adequacy of documentation to ensure it supports the principal diagnosis, principal procedure and complications and comorbid conditions that are coded
Works with Clinical Documentation Specialists and Reimbursement Specialists to identify areas for improvement in physician documentation
Assess OCE, NCCI and CCI edits as necessary to apply appropriate modifiers and make appropriate referrals to revenue departments, claim billers, senior coders and other hospital contacts as needed for accurate claim submission
Analyze clinical findings to determine appropriate secondary diagnoses for patient severity indices
Use good judgment in determining when to delay billing for obtaining additional documentation to support the assignment of a more optimal DRG
Make coding supervisor aware of problem issues, negative physician communication and/or other influences that impact effectiveness of job performance
Other duties as assigned