Lead Inpatient Coder

Overview

$5,000 Sign-On Bonus - 100% remote Must live in following states  (TX, GA, FL, TN, LA or WA)

 

At Houston Methodist, the Lead Inpatient Coder position is responsible for providing administrative support to the department while ensuring diagnostic and procedure codes are assigned accurately to inpatient encounters based upon documentation within the electronic medical record and maintaining compliance with established rules and regulatory guidelines. This position serves as the liaison between management, staff and physicians for routine matters, resolving questions and issues. Duties may be varied and may include many of the following: organize work schedules, create work assignments, review timecards for accuracy, conduct quality assurance audits of staff performance, develop and implement quality improvement activities, train and mentor staff, provide feedback on staff performance and developmental needs, collect/analyze/report on data, prepare reports on performance and metrics, and other responsibilities of a similar nature and level.

Houston Methodist Standard

PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVEDRefer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.

HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

• Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
  • INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
  • COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
  • RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
  • EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.

• Practices the Caring and Serving Model

• Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards

• Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)

• Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience

• Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job

• Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values

Responsibilities

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Promotes a positive work environment and leads the team to be dynamic and a focused work unit that actively helps one another to achieve optimal department results. Interacts and communicates effectively with members of the coding team and the appropriate stakeholders. Participates and provides good feedback during coding section meetings and coding education inservices as well as takes initiative to assist others and shares knowledge with the appropriate stakeholders on official coding guidelines.

• Serves as preceptor, mentor, and resource to less experienced staff. Orients, guides, and mentors team members to help build confidence and competency in skills, knowledge, and abilities for various department tasks. Role models to team members effective communication skills, assisting in their development of such skills. Coordinates staff schedules, as appropriate, to provide daily staff coverage to promote/maintain smooth department operations.

• Role models healthy work relationships such as mitigation of conflict, leading problem-solving and resolution efforts. Recommends initiatives to improve department scores for employee engagement.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Responds promptly to internal and external customer requests. Responds promptly and appropriately to requests to code or review coded accounts for accuracy. Serves as liaison between team members, management and physicians resolving routine matters, informing or escalating to management as needed.

• Initiates queries with physicians to obtain or clarify diagnoses and/or procedures as appropriate, utilizing the established physician query process.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Assigns diagnostic and procedural codes to encounters of high complexity. Maintains and achieves departmental standards of coding quality by assigning accurate ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM/ICD-10-PCS codes utilizing an electronic encoder application in a