Lead Medical Records Technician (Coder)

Description:

The OKLAHOMA CITY OK, Health Administration Service is recruiting for one Lead Medical Records Technician (Coder). This position will be assigned to the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this Announcement,

Basic Requirements :

Certification . Persons hired or reassigned to MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have either (1), (2), or (3) below:

1. Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
2. Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
3. Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS.

NOTE : Mastery level certification is required for all positions above the journey level; however, for clinical documentation improvement specialist assignments, a clinical documentation improvement certification may be substituted for a mastery level certification.
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 Requirement : MRT's must be proficient in spoken and written English as require by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

Experience . One year of experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology and general understanding of the health record. Six months of the required one year of experience must have provided the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) needed to perform MRT work.

• OR
• Education. Two years above high school with a minimum of 12 semester hours directly related to MRT work (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, and introduction to health records).
• 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.

Grandfathering Provision. All persons employed in VHA as a MRT (Coder) on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, including positive education and certification that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

1. Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the journey level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but will not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
2. Such employees in an occupation that requires a certification only at higher grade levels must meet the certification requirement before they can be promoted to the higher-grade levels.
3. MRTs who are appointed on a temporary basis, prior to the effective date of the qualification standard, may not have their temporary appointment extended, or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
4. MRTs initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education that meets all the basic requirements of this qualification standard, must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.
5. Employees who are retained as a MRT under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry as a MRT.

Grade Determinations :

Experience : In additional to meeting the basic requirements, you must also have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-8 level and be able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities:

1. Ability to analyze the medical record to identify all pertinent diagnoses and procedures for coding, and to evaluate the adequacy of the documentation. This includes the ability to read and understand the content of the medical record, the terminology, the significance of the comments, and the disease process/pathophysiology of the patient;
2. Ability to accurately perform the full scope of outpatient coding, including ambulatory surgical cases, diagnostic studies and procedures, and outpatient encounters, and/or inpatient coding, including inpatient discharges, surgical cases, diagnostic studies and procedures, and inpatient professional fees; and
3. Skill in interpreting and adapting health information guidelines and ability to use judgment in completing assignments using incomplete or inadequate guidelines.

Lead Medical Records Technician (Coder), GS-9

• Lead coder assignments can be established for any of the coder subspecialties (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined). The subspecialty will be reflected in the title, e.g., Lead MRT (Coder-Outpatient).
• Experience . One year of creditable experience equivalent to the journey grade level MRT (Coder). (c) 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 work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize, and coordinate activities in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment, such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work, etc.
• Advanced knowledge of current coding classification systems for the subspecialty being assigned (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined) and the ability to research and solve complex questions related to coding conventions and guidelines in an accurate and timely manner.
• Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing, in order to meet program objectives.
• Knowledge of training methods and the ability to provide training to new coding staff.
• Ability to collect and analyze data and present results in various formats, which may include presenting reports to various organizational levels.
• Leadership skills, including interpersonal relations and conflict resolution between employees, managers, and clinical staff

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

Qualification Standard:
VA HANDBOOK REFERENCE: PART II APPENDIX G57 MEDICAL RECORDS TECHNICIAN (CODER) QUALIFICATION STANDARD GS-0675 EFFECTIVE DATE: December 10, 2019