This position is located in the Health Information Management (HIM) Section of Health Administration Service at the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center. Medical Records Administrators (MRAs) in VHA perform and supervise work concerned with the management of a health record program or the provision of services related to medical record administration/health information services. MRAs manage, preserve, analyze, and supervise the use of diagnostic and health records/information management.

Duties

Duties include: Responsible for all facets of health records management for the facility ensuring maintenance of complete, accurate, timely, clinically-pertinent, and readily-accessible patient health records, which contain sufficient recorded information to serve as a basis to plan patient care, support diagnoses, warrant treatment, measure outcomes, support education and facilitate performance improvement processes and legal requirements. Develops policies, processes, and procedures that address all VA, Federal, regulatory, and accrediting requirements for HIM. Evaluates health records program and independently determines the nature and extent of problem areas. Develops recommendations and solutions for program improvement. Develops and implements innovative solutions to correct technical, complex problems. Provide detailed technical expertise in health records science and other very technical aspects of HIM. Maintains all health information input into the local VistA database and assures timely transmission of that data into all VA centralized databases - most frequently those maintained at the Austin Data Processing Center. Must assure that all health information that is coded and abstracted meets the requirements of the VA and/or TJC and is consistent with professional health records standards. The incumbent is a key advisor to the Chief of Staff, Executive Management, and clinicians and is responsible for providing technical guidance on health information issues such as documentation requirements, liability issues, advance directives, informed consent, release of information, transcription/speech recognition, health information exchange, etc. Recommends improvements in health record documentation used to provide patient care, to optimize VERA workload, third party reimbursement and to manage resources. Completes internal quality assurance reviews to ensure employee performance and that work meets quality and quantity standards. Establishes monitors to ensure the timeliness of health record entries and reports findings with subsequent trending of data. Provides management officials with health record review results and trends on an ongoing basis. Monitors and reports delinquent records by number, type of deficiencies and responsible provider. Responsible for assuring that all patients have a complete, accurate, and timely record of their health care at the facility. Must assure that such information is appropriately stored and readily available for the provision of medical services to the patients. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00a.m. to 4:30p.m. Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Medical Records Administrator Chief (CHIM)/PD000000 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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. English Language Proficiency. MRAs must be proficient in spoken and written English. See 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Experience or Education: a) Experience. Three years of creditable experience in the field of medical records that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of health records and health information systems demonstrating a knowledge of medical terminology, medical records procedures, medical coding, or medical, administrative, and legal requirements of health care delivery systems. OR, b) Education. Successful completion of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university [recognized by the U.S. Department of Education], with a major field of study in health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information management or health information technology. OR, c). Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education that equals 100 percent may be used to meet basic requirements. For example, two years above high school from an accredited college or university, with 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management, plus one year and six months of creditable experience that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of health records and health information systems meets an equivalent combination. Certification: Persons hired or reassigned to MRA positions in the GS-0669 series in VHA must meet one of the following: Coding Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. NOTE. See paragraph 2a above for a detailed definition of Coding Certification. OR, HIM Certification through AHIMA. NOTE. See paragraph 2d above for a detailed definition of HIM Certification. OR, Health Data Analyst Certification through AHIMA. NOTE. See paragraph 2c above for a detailed definition of Health Data Analyst Certification. NOTE. HIMs Certification is required for all positions above the full performance level May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: Specialized Experience: One year of creditable experience at the next lower level in the field of medical records that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of health records and health information systems demonstrating knowledge of medical terminology, medical records procedures, medical coding, or medical, administrative, and legal requirements of health care delivery systems ; establishing policies, responsibilities, and requirements for HIM related matters, such as health record documentation, coding and clinical documentation improvement, records management, release of information, file room/scanning, transcription and medical speech recognition, as well as the overall management of health information and Veterans health records, identifying and setting short-range and long-range goals, program objectives, and tasks to meet the mission and vision of the medical center, monitor and manage HIM workflow to ensure program objectives are met, assist with planning, developing, directing, and evaluating health information and other functions., oversee implementation and adherence to HIM industry standards, policies, procedures, laws, regulations, and accrediting bodies, ensures the facility is in compliance with applicable standards by completing HIM audits, healthcare data reports, and statistical information, for timely and accurate reporting, establish, implement, and monitor HIM performance through metrics, productivity measures, benchmarking, and other applicable tools and ensures quality and efficiency for all areas and processes of the HIM department with demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilitiesin: Determine and evaluate compliance with legal, ethical, and regulatory guidelines and accrediting bodies, as they apply to health information management. Skill in evaluating, developing and implementing new policies, procedures, and programs. Ability to provide program oversight, including advisory and technical expertise on a range of health information management practices and guidelines to staff at various levels. Ability to develop and conduct training on health information management programs, policies, procedures, and performance improvement activities. Ability to effectively procure and manage HIM resources (i.e. space, staffing, education, budget, etc.) Ability to provide the full range of supervisory duties to include assignment of work; completing performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and disciplinary actions. Customer service skills necessary to effectively communicate (written and verbal) and interact with all levels of hospital personnel, physicians, patients, and outside agencies. Ability to deal effectively with sensitive and/or complex situations. AND A currentHIM Certification: Employees at this level must have a Health Information Management Certification obtained through AHIMA. *Current HIM certifications include Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) and Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA). References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G33 Physical Requirements: VA Directive and Handbook 5019: The work is primarily a sedentary position. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books, small items, etc. Concentration and sustained performance under potential stress of accuracy and deadlines is required because of factors involved in completion of various complex work assignments.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address James E Van Zandt VA Medical Center 2907 Pleasant Valley Boulevard Altoona, PA 16602 US
• Name: Shanice Moore
• Email: [email protected]