Medical Records Technician (Coder) Outpatient
Select and assign codes from the current versions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and/or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). Review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social, and administrative data with guidance and instruction from supervisor or senior coder to develop knowledge of the organization and structure of an electronic patient record. Use a variety of computer applications in day to day activities and duties, such as Outlook, Excel, Word, and Access; develops use of the health record applications (VISTA and CPRS) as well as the encoder product suite. Directly consult with the professional staff for clarification of conflicting, incomplete or ambiguous clinical data in the health record. May be required to abstract and sequence codes into encoder software to obtain correct diagnosis-related group (DRG). Enter and correct information that has been rejected, when necessary. Apply advanced knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, disease processes, treatment modalities, diagnostic tests, medications, procedures as well as the principles and practices of health services and the organizational structure to ensure proper code selection. Adhere to accepted coding practices, guidelines and conventions when choosing the most appropriate diagnosis, operation, procedure, ancillary, or Evaluation and Management code to ensure ethical, accurate, and complete coding. Assist facility staff with documentation requirements to completely and accurately reflect the patient care provided; provides technical support in the areas of regulations and policy, coding requirements, resident supervision, reimbursement, workload, accepted nomenclature, and proper sequencing. Work Schedule:
Monday - Friday; 8:
00 AM - 4:
30 PM Financial Disclosure Report:
Not required Please note:
this is not a remote/virtual position. Telework is available once all facility requirements are met.
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 :
(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 MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have either of the following certifications/credentials:
Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS. Grade Determinations:
GS-04:
Experience or Education. None beyond basic requirements. GS-05:
Experience:
Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level; OR, Education. Successful completion of four years of education above high school leading to a bachelor'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 management or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information management or technology. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) select and assign codes to outpatient episodes of care, and/or inpatient professional services from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, and query clinical staff, as appropriate, with guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They use various computer applications to abstract records, assign codes, and record and transmit data. They ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-06:
Experience:
One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) may perform coding on outpatient episodes of care and/or inpatient professional services. They select and assign codes from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, and query clinical staff, as appropriate, with limited guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They utilize various computer applications to abstract records, assign codes, and record and transmit data. They also ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-07:
Experience. At least one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) perform coding on outpatient episodes of care and/or inpatient professional services. They select and assign codes from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, with minimal guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They review and abstract clinical data from the record for documentation of diagnoses and procedures to ensure it is adequate and appropriate to support the assigned codes. They also review provider health record documentation to ensure that it supports the diagnostic and procedural codes assigned and is consistent with required medical coding nomenclature. They also ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-08:
Experience:
At least one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) at this level perform the full scope of outpatient coding including ambulatory surgical cases, diagnostic studies and procedures, outpatient encounters, and/or inpatient professional services. Outpatient duties consist of the performance of a comprehensive review of documentation within the health record to accurately assign ICD CM codes for diagnoses, CPT/HCPCS codes for surgeries, procedures and evaluation, and management services. They independently review and abstract clinical data from the record for documentation of diagnoses and procedures to ensure it is adequate and appropriate to support the assigned codes. They code all complicated and complex disease processes, patient injuries, and all procedures in a wide range of ambulatory settings and specialties. They also directly consult with the clinical staff for clarification of conflicting, incomplete, or ambiguous clinical data in the health record. MRTs (Coder) must abstract, assign, and sequence codes into encoder software to support medical necessity, resolve encoder edits, and ensure codes accurately reflect services rendered. They also review provider health record documentation to ensure that it supports the diagnostic and procedural codes assigned and is consistent with required medical coding nomenclature. They enter and correct information that has been rejected, when necessary. MRTs (Coder) ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. References:
VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II Appendix G57, Medical Records Technician (Coder) Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements:
The work is sedentary, but may require walking, bending, standing, and or carrying of light items such as files and manuals. The work does not require any special physical effort or ability. Good eyesight is necessary, majority of work is utilizing a computer keyboard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-04 to GS-08.
Estimated Salary: $20 to $28 per hour based on qualifications.
Monday - Friday; 8:
00 AM - 4:
30 PM Financial Disclosure Report:
Not required Please note:
this is not a remote/virtual position. Telework is available once all facility requirements are met.
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 :
(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 MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have either of the following certifications/credentials:
Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS. Grade Determinations:
GS-04:
Experience or Education. None beyond basic requirements. GS-05:
Experience:
Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level; OR, Education. Successful completion of four years of education above high school leading to a bachelor'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 management or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information management or technology. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) select and assign codes to outpatient episodes of care, and/or inpatient professional services from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, and query clinical staff, as appropriate, with guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They use various computer applications to abstract records, assign codes, and record and transmit data. They ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-06:
Experience:
One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) may perform coding on outpatient episodes of care and/or inpatient professional services. They select and assign codes from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, and query clinical staff, as appropriate, with limited guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They utilize various computer applications to abstract records, assign codes, and record and transmit data. They also ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-07:
Experience. At least one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) perform coding on outpatient episodes of care and/or inpatient professional services. They select and assign codes from current versions of ICD CM, CPT, and HCPCS classification systems. They review record documentation to abstract all required medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social and administrative data, with minimal guidance from higher level MRTs (Coder). They review and abstract clinical data from the record for documentation of diagnoses and procedures to ensure it is adequate and appropriate to support the assigned codes. They also review provider health record documentation to ensure that it supports the diagnostic and procedural codes assigned and is consistent with required medical coding nomenclature. They also ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. MRTs (Coder) may be assigned to a single facility or region, such as a consolidated coding unit. GS-08:
Experience:
At least one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Examples of
Experience:
Outpatient MRTs (Coder) at this level perform the full scope of outpatient coding including ambulatory surgical cases, diagnostic studies and procedures, outpatient encounters, and/or inpatient professional services. Outpatient duties consist of the performance of a comprehensive review of documentation within the health record to accurately assign ICD CM codes for diagnoses, CPT/HCPCS codes for surgeries, procedures and evaluation, and management services. They independently review and abstract clinical data from the record for documentation of diagnoses and procedures to ensure it is adequate and appropriate to support the assigned codes. They code all complicated and complex disease processes, patient injuries, and all procedures in a wide range of ambulatory settings and specialties. They also directly consult with the clinical staff for clarification of conflicting, incomplete, or ambiguous clinical data in the health record. MRTs (Coder) must abstract, assign, and sequence codes into encoder software to support medical necessity, resolve encoder edits, and ensure codes accurately reflect services rendered. They also review provider health record documentation to ensure that it supports the diagnostic and procedural codes assigned and is consistent with required medical coding nomenclature. They enter and correct information that has been rejected, when necessary. MRTs (Coder) ensure audit findings have been corrected and refiled. References:
VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II Appendix G57, Medical Records Technician (Coder) Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements:
The work is sedentary, but may require walking, bending, standing, and or carrying of light items such as files and manuals. The work does not require any special physical effort or ability. Good eyesight is necessary, majority of work is utilizing a computer keyboard. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-04 to GS-08.
- Department:
0675 Medical Records Technician - Salary Range:
$31,208 to $62,269 per year
Estimated Salary: $20 to $28 per hour based on qualifications.
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