Medical Coding Specialist

Headway

8d•$60,520 - $89,000•Remote

About The Position

Headway is building a new mental healthcare system from the ground up—one that's accessible, effective, and built to scale. Providers on Headway are responsible for their own coding and documentation, and many are new to billing insurance in private practice. We review that documentation against clinical documentation standards — and when a provider has questions about what came back, someone needs to give them a clear, accurate answer they can act on. As a Medical Coding Specialist, you're the coding and billing expert providers reach when they have questions about their documentation review results. You'll interpret those results, determine whether a finding is actually correct, and explain what it means in language a clinician can act on. You'll also be the person who catches it when a review result is wrong — and gets it fixed. All care on Headway is outpatient behavioral health, delivered in person or virtually. This is not an auditing role, and it is not a production coding role. A separate team performs the documentation audits; you won't be auditing charts or coding claims. You'll apply the same depth of coding knowledge to a different problem — getting providers to the right answer, and making sure the guidance they receive is correct.

Requirements

Have a CPC certification (required)
1–2 years of experience in outpatient or professional-services coding, ideally within a behavioral health setting
Possess a strong grasp of ICD-10-CM, CPT, and HCPCS coding guidelines and the documentation requirements
Communicate clearly and empathetically, especially when educating providers or discussing sensitive feedback
Have the ability to balance supportive coaching and enforcing provider policies regarding payer standards and compliance regulations
Can independently reach the correct coding and documentation conclusion on a behavioral health note and defend it — including disagreeing with a review result when the documentation supports you
Are energized by making providers and frontline teams self-sufficient, rather than by reviewing charts
Previously educated providers on medical decision making (MDM) for outpatient Evaluation and Management (E/M) services
Bring a high level of attention to detail and comfort working independently in a fast-paced, digital environment
Are tech-savvy: you can navigate Google Workspace, Zoom, and EMR platforms—or you're excited to learn
Are energized by working cross-functionally and driving quality at scale in a tech-forward setting

Nice To Haves

Hold a CPMA certification

Responsibilities

Interpret behavioral health documentation and coding review results (ICD-10-CM and CPT) and translate them into clear, actionable provider education and feedback
Determine whether a flagged finding is accurate — confirming genuine documentation and coding errors, and identifying findings that were flagged incorrectly so they can be corrected and escalated
Serve as a subject matter expert by answering provider and internal-team questions on behavioral health coding and documentation (ICD-10-CM and CPT) and billing findings
Deliver clear, accurate, and empathetic responses to providers through our support channels (e.g., Zendesk)
Contribute to provider education efforts, including drafting content, identifying documentation gaps, and advising on documentation standards
Partner with our Customer Experience (CX) team to build knowledge base content and resources that help resolve more questions without direct SME support
Provide insights on coding trends, identify risk areas, and recommend improvements to tooling, process, and training
Collaborate with cross-functional partners on initiatives that improve the provider audit-support experience
Stay current with evolving coding guidelines, payer rules, and industry standards through continuing education and independent learning