Lead Medical Coding Technician

Aptive•Remote,

4d•Remote

About The Position

Aptive Resources is hiring a Lead Medical Coder to lead a medical coding team supporting the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, a large, Joint Commission-accredited tertiary care and teaching facility in Cleveland, Ohio. The role supports a 14-person team comprising inpatient facility, outpatient professional, and ambulatory surgery coders, along with a Coding Lead. The Lead Medical Coder is accountable for team productivity, accuracy, and compliance in coordination with VA Health Information Management leadership. The position combines coding work in the employee’s specialty— inpatient or outpatient—with team leadership, daily workflow coordination, technical coding guidance, quality review, coaching, training, and reporting. Coding is performed in Oracle Health using the Solventum CRS encoder. The work is remote from within the United States through a secure VA VPN connection, Monday through Friday within the facility’s 6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Eastern coverage window.

Requirements

Hold an active RHIT, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, or CPC credential at hire and maintain it current.
AHIMA credential holders must have completed the required ICD-10-CM/PCS baseline continuing education units; AAPC credential holders must have passed the ICD-10 Proficiency Assessment.
At least two years of continuous coding experience at a VA medical center of comparable size and complexity (level 1A), or at an equivalent large tertiary or teaching hospital.
Meet all qualifications of the Coder roles.
Proficiency in ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, DRGs, CPT, HCPCS, and E/M across inpatient, outpatient, professional, and surgical settings.
Experience with Oracle Health (Cerner) coding workflows.
Formal training in anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and reimbursement methodologies.
U.S. citizenship and strong written and spoken English.
Ability to pass a VA background investigation (NACI) and complete VA Privacy and Information Security training.

Nice To Haves

Previous lead experience, including helping manage a coding team.
Familiarity with legacy VA systems (VistA, CPRS, VIRR).
Experience with the Solventum (3M) CRS encoder and 360 Encompass.
Inpatient credential (CCS) with DRG validation or audit experience.

Responsibilities

Carry a coding workload in the employee’s inpatient or outpatient specialty while leading a team of coders.
Coordinate daily team workflow by distributing assignments, balancing workloads, monitoring work queues and backlogs, and escalating staffing gaps, performance concerns, and employee issues to the Supervisor or Project Lead.
Serve as a technical resource by answering coding questions, interpreting official guidelines, and helping resolve complex or unclear cases.
Help the team meet performance standards, including at least 95% accuracy in ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT/HCPCS, and E/M; completion of initial coding within five calendar days of assignment; and daily productivity targets per coder.
Conduct internal quality reviews of coded records, track error trends by coder, and provide one-on-one feedback and refresher training.
Help resolve claim edits, coding-related rejections, and uncoded or outstanding encounters.
Guide coders on the VHA Provider Query Process to ensure queries are compliant and non-leading, and track open queries through closure within 30 days.
Collect quality, productivity, and training data for the Supervisor’s monthly reports and corrective action plans.
Attend meetings with the VA COR and HIM staff as requested, and help respond to coding issues within 48 hours.
Help the Supervisor onboard and train new coders and update training materials.