Senior HIMS Technician

Banner Health•Scottsdale, AZ

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position coordinates and performs the daily operations work of designated areas within the health information management systems (HIMS) department. May act in a leadership role and as a liaison between management and the staff. Facilitates the delivery of high quality customer service to external customers. Responsibilities typically include the monitoring and direction of daily workflow and involvement in process improvement/quality monitoring functions. CORE FUNCTIONS 1. Assist with the orientation, training and re-education of HIMS staff. Liaison between management and the HIMS staff for the purpose of coordinating staff schedules and communication of information and/or resource in providing information and HIMS department services. Promotes open communication, effective point of service decision making and problem solving while interacting with internal/external customers to ensure positive resolutions and customer satisfaction. Serves as a key liaison between staff, physicians, other departments and other departmental customers. 2. Monitor daily workflow processes, complete daily activities, and identify and communicate to leadership any opportunities for improvement as needed. Identify, address and communicate opportunities to improve work processes and practices good work group dynamics. May serve as a backup to other staff members to ensure the department operations are efficiently and effectively maintained. 3. Coordinate the compiling of department statistics, generating performance reports, and facilitating special projects, as required including assisting in the development of targets and action plans to achieve department goals. 4. Support and ensure the integrity of Electronic Medical Record through monitoring and auditing activities, including management of provider deficiencies and record completion identified through various reporting tools. May coordinate physician suspension process. 5. Conducts routine and complex releases of health information in accordance with company policy and all state and federal laws. May act as a liaison to HIMS techs and is knowledgeable with applicable federal and state regulations and Banner Health policies related to release of health information and HIPAA. 6. Support the coding function, acting as a liaison between HIMS operations, coding, registration, physicians, and other facility or system departments as applicable to facilitate the record completion, coding, and billing process. 7. Provide customer service and assistance related to HIMS departmental functions to patients, vendors, physicians, ancillary staff, and other departments in person, over the telephone, through email, or by other means. 8. Perform a variety of other support functions including assistance with transcription issues and requests, providing training for Dragon/voice recognition applications, assisting patients with completion of portal enrollment, performing merges and combines in the Electronic Medical Record, answer ringing telephones, and other duties as assigned by HIMS leadership. As applicable to the facility, may work with state recording agencies, such as reporting all facility births to the state vital health records department and meeting the state reporting guidelines for such. 9. Works under general supervision and provides leadership and expertise to a work team. Solves problems using defined procedures and a learned expertise in medical records regulatory requirements. Holds department responsibility only, although is involved in implementing system-wide activities. Customers are internal and external: physicians, volunteers, medical staff services and nursing.

Requirements

At least 2 years' experience working in a healthcare environment, ideally in HIMS or in an adjacent department that regularly handles Release of Information and/or document imaging workflows.
Knowledge of health information practices and principles demonstrated through completion of one or more years of post-high school education or experience in medical records and information systems or other healthcare related roles.
Thorough knowledge of health information management practices and principles.
Working knowledge of medical terminology.
Ability to exercise independent judgment, prioritize work, and have good problem-solving skills.
Strong verbal, written communication, and interpersonal skills.
Strong technical skills in using office and medical records software applications and databases.
Knowledgeable of all HIMS department functions and processes.
Must possess an Arizona Fingerprint Clearance Card at the time of hire and maintain the card for the duration of employment (for specific facilities).
Must sign an Arizona Criminal History Affidavit upon hire (for specific facilities).

Nice To Haves

Experience coordinating work functions of groups of individuals is preferred.
Current enrollment in the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) or Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) Program.
Background in the use of medical terminology for the assigned area is preferred.
Additional related education and/or experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Process proxy access requests to the patient chart through an external site (Formstack) and in Cerner.
Process Release of Information requests through our third-party vendor partner, MRO, as well as walk-in requests.
Assist with pulling records for state surveyors as needed.
Cross-train in Document Imaging, including rounding, scanning, and processing paper charts into the EHR.
Provide coverage for Document Imaging when the teammate is out on PTO.
Assist with the orientation, training and re-education of HIMS staff.
Serve as a liaison between management and HIMS staff for coordinating schedules and communicating information.
Promote open communication, effective point of service decision making and problem solving.
Monitor daily workflow processes and identify opportunities for improvement.
Compile department statistics and generate performance reports.
Support and ensure the integrity of the Electronic Medical Record through monitoring and auditing activities.
Conduct routine and complex releases of health information in accordance with company policy and all state and federal laws.
Provide customer service and assistance related to HIMS departmental functions to patients, vendors, physicians, ancillary staff, and other departments.
Perform other support functions including assistance with transcription issues, providing training for Dragon/voice recognition applications, assisting patients with portal enrollment, performing merges and combines in the Electronic Medical Record, and answering telephones.
Report all facility births to the state vital health records department and meet state reporting guidelines.
Provide leadership and expertise to a work team.
Solve problems using defined procedures and expertise in medical records regulatory requirements.