The Supervisory Medical Record Technician (Inpatient/Outpatient Coder) is located in the Health Information Management section of the Health Administration Service (HAS) at the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center with oversight of a group of Medical Record Technicians Coders, and administrative responsibility for planning and directing the work of subordinate staff and are skilled in classifying medical data from health records from physician offices, group practices, multi-specialty clinics.

Duties

As a Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder), although not limited to, will perform the following duties: Evaluating the performance of subordinate staff. Resolving employee complaints and taking disciplinary actions. Informs higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload. Develop and complete performance standards and performance evaluations for subordinate staff. Make decisions on the selection of employees for vacant or new positions. Approving sick and annual leave requests. Identifying educational or training needs. Assign work on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis to meet established guidelines. Adjust schedules to meet the workload demand and deadlines. Complete routine reports on workload and production. Identifies problems encountered and proposes creative solutions. Checks coders work for the quality of patient records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with requirements of regulatory and accrediting agencies. Monitors the status and progress of work based on established or stated priorities. Provides instruction/training to subordinate coders Adheres to coding practices, guidelines and conventions to ensure the accuracy of data captured. Monitors ever-changing regulatory and policy requirements effecting coded information. Ensures the accuracy of coders medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and diseases. Utilizes facility computer system and software applications to code, abstract, record, and transmit data to the national database. Uses a variety of windows based applications in day-to-day activities and duties, such as Outlook, Excel, Word, and Access. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Remote: Not remote Telework: May be eligible up to 3 days per week Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 / Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder) Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. Experience: One year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, medical coding, and the structure and format of a health records. OR Education: An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical coding, and introduction to health records); OR Completion of an AHIMA approved coding program, or other intense coding training program of approximately one year or more that included courses in anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, basic ICD diagnostic/procedural, and basic CPT coding. The training program must have led to eligibility for coding certification/certification examination, and the sponsoring academic institution must have been accredited by a national U.S. Department of Education accreditor, or comparable international accrediting authority at the time the program was completed; OR Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. The following educational/ training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and experience: (a) Six months of experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology and general understanding of the health record and one year above high school with a minimum of 6 semester hours of health information technology courses. (b) Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or hospital training obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces or the U.S. Maritime Service under close medical and professional supervision may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to six months of experience provided the training program included courses in anatomy, physiology, and medical record techniques and procedures. Also requires six additional months of experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology and general understanding of the health record. Certification. Persons hired or reassigned to Supervisory MRT (Coder) (CCU) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have one of the following certifications/credentials: (Proof of current and active certification must be provided. Proof needs to contain registration or certificate number) Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. Current mastery level certifications include: Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), Certified Coding Specialist - Physician-based (CCS-P),Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA), Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Outpatient Coder (COC), Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC). Grade Determinations: Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder), GS-10 Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (Knowledge of coding and documentation concepts, guidelines, and clinical terminology; Knowledge of anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology to interpret and analyze all information in a patient's health record, including laboratory and other test results to identify opportunities for more precise and/or complete documentation in the health record; Ability to collect and analyze data and present results in various formats, which may include presenting reports to various organizational levels; Ability to establish and maintain strong verbal and written communication with providers; Knowledge of regulations that define healthcare documentation requirements, including The Joint Commission, CMS, and VA guidelines; Extensive knowledge of coding rules and regulations, to include current clinical classification systems such as ICDCM and PCS, CPT, and HCPCS. They must also possess knowledge of complication or comorbidity/major complication or comorbidity (CC/MCC), MS-DRG structure, and POA indicators; Knowledge of severity of illness, risk of mortality, complexity of care for inpatients, and CPT Evaluation and Management (E/M) criteria to ensure the correct selection of E/M codes that match patient type, setting of service, and level of E/M service provided for outpatients. Knowledge of training methods and teaching skills sufficient to conduct continuing education for staff development. The training sessions may be technical in nature or may focus on teaching techniques for the improvement of clinical documentation issues.). Certification: Employees at this level must have a mastery level certification. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to perform a full range of supervisory duties, to include recommending awards, approving leave, evaluating work, resolving staff issues, and assigning, planning, and coordinating work to ensure duties are completed in an accurate and timely fashion. Advanced knowledge of current coding classification systems such as ICD, CPT, and HCPCS for the subspecialty being assigned (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined). Ability to provide or coordinate staff development and training. Leadership and managerial skills, including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, and managers. Ability to collect and analyze data, identify trends, and present results in various formats. References: VA Handbook 5005/79, Part II, Appendix G57 MEDICAL RECORD TECHNICIAN Qualification Standard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-10. Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary. Employee generally sits to do the work. There may be some walking, standing, or carrying of light items such as patient charts/ records, manuals or files. Employee also extracts information from computer systems which requires ability to utilize keyboards or other similar devices.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address James E Van Zandt VA Medical Center 2907 Pleasant Valley Boulevard Altoona, PA 16602 US
• Name: Sharon Hill
• Phone: 770-901-1803
• Email: [email protected]