Job Title

This position is located in the Health Information Management Section of the Medical Administration Service at VAMC West Palm Beach, Florida. The Medical Records Technician (Coder) is responsible for abstracting medical record data and assigning codes using current clinical classification systems appropriate for the type of care provided. * THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION* Duties may include but are not limited to: * Applies comprehensive 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. * Selects and assigns codes from the current version of several coding systems to include current versions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and/or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). * Adheres 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. Also applies codes based on guidelines specific to certain diagnoses, procedures, and other criteria (in inpatient and outpatient settings) used to classify patients under the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) program that categorizes all VA patients into specific classes representing their clinical conditions and resource needs. * Monitors ever-changing regulatory and policy requirements affecting coded information for the full spectrum of services provided by the VAMC. Timely compliance with coding changes is crucial to the accuracy of the facility database as well as all cost recovery programs. * Assists 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. * Incumbent develops and conducts seminars, workshops, short courses, informational briefings, and conferences concerned with health record documentation, educational and functional training requirements to ensure program objectives are met for clinical and Health Information Management (HIM) staff. * Ensures active intra-departmental training program is in place for the HIM staff. Determines and meets training needs of extra-departmental professional, paraprofessional and non-professional personnel by originating training material, providing orientation to newly assigned interns and residents and participates in in-sen/ice programs conducted throughout the hospital. * Facilitates improved overall quality, completeness and accuracy of health record documentation as well as promoting appropriate clinical documentation through extensive interaction with physicians, other patient caregivers and HIM coding staff to ensure clinical documentation and services rendered to patients is complete and accurate. * Ensures the accuracy and completeness of clinical information used for measuring and reporting physician and medical center outcomes with continuing education to all members of the patient care team on an ongoing basis. * Collaboratively works with the professional clinical staff and provides support and education on documentation issues. * Assists in the development of guidelines for data compatibility, consistency, and monitoring for compliance to improve the quality for clinical, financial, and administrative data to ensure that all information is fully documented and supported. Such efforts are conducted to ensure the accuracy of billing denials and prevention against fraud and abuse. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: FS-40410F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized