Assistant Director of Hospital Coding - 141286

University of California - San Diego Medical Centers; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 123,000 - 238,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California - San Diego Medical Centers is seeking an Assistant Director to lead the Health Information Management and Coding teams, shaping strategy for coding quality and productivity. You will supervise career and contract coders, oversee educators and auditors, and ensure timely, accurate coding and reimbursement.

You will collaborate with revenue cycle leaders, drive performance improvement, payroll, and staffing decisions, and maintain data integrity across coding workflows

Qualifications

• Experience and understanding of healthcare revenue cycle operations, policies and their impact.
• Proven leadership in coding, registration, billing, and charge capture workflows.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams and optimizing performance.

Responsibilities

• Set strategy for coding department, ensuring quality and productivity.
• Supervise coding staff and revenue analysts; oversee training and remediation.
• Oversee education on coding, documentation, and CDI queries; ensure data integrity and accurate billing.

Skills

Healthcare revenue cycle

Coding leadership

Staff supervision

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/health admin

RHIA/RHIT/CCS certification

Job description

This is a UC San Diego Internal Recruitment open to UCSD and UCSD Health System Staff Only

UCSD Layoff from Career Appointment: Apply by 9/25/2026 for consideration with preference for rehire. All layoff applicants should contact their Employment Advisor.

Reassignment Applicants: Eligible Reassignment clients should contact their Disability Counselor for assistance.

DESCRIPTION

Under the direction of the Director of Health Information Management and Coding, the Assistant Director is responsible for the strategic direction, quality and productivity of the Medical Center coding team. Responsible for direct supervision of medical center coding career and contract coding, charge capture resources as well as overseeing the activities of the revenue analysts and auditor/trainers. The Assistant Director is responsible for the overall quality of the coding effort, and will also fill in during the Director's absence.

Sets the strategy and oversees the review, coding education, auditing and remediating any deviation from compliant coding, training the coding staff, and educating other workforce members in coding, mapping, classification/grouping and proper documentation. Oversees the generation and approval of CDI queries to assure a timely and appropriate response. Assures that all coding assignments and workflow achieves the intended result. Represents coding leadership at optimization meetings, CDI and other interdisciplinary meetings. Assures the highest level of data integrity, denial avoidance due to coding, and the highest quality of external data released to HCAI, Vizient, etc.

Serves in conjunction with revenue cycle leadership coordinating agenda and outcomes. Analyzes all areas related to hospital coding, conducts all aspects of personnel management to include recruitment, performance management and improvement, training, compensation oversight, and labor relations issues. Oversees all performance improvement projects throughout the coding areas of responsibility. Assures accurate timekeeping and payroll for department employees. Incumbent will independently apply business judgment, management concepts and provide necessary counseling to managers and staff on daily operational issues.

Involves revenue cycle functions for the healthcare enterprise, including system billing, reporting and support. Ensures account information contains accurate and comprehensive data to provide timely billing and optimal reimbursement for services. Impacts processes to include charge capture, coding, insurance identification, data entry, billing, payment posting, refund processing and collections. Coordinates and implements revenue cycle management functions. Monitors effectiveness and recommends improvements to workflows, procedures and technology. Erroneous decisions or failure to adhere to objectives results in additional costs and serious delays in overall schedules.

MINMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in business, health administration, healthcare information management or related area and / or equivalent experience / training.

• A minimum of seven (7) or more years of relevant experience.

• A minimum of three (3) or more years of managerial (or higher) level experience in a relevant setting.

• Experience and proven success in knowledge of healthcare revenue cycle operations, concepts, and policies and their impact throughout the organization, and with in-depth understanding of related functions and issues including coding, registration, billing, reimbursements, aging accounts, contractual adjustments, and charge capture.

• RHIA, RHIT, or CCS certification.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced Degree in relevant field.

• Academic hospital/health system experience.

• Ten (10) or more years of relevant experience.

• Five (5) or more years of managerial experience in a relevant setting.

• Substantial experience in both professional fee and facility coding.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

• Employment is subject to a criminal background check and pre-employment physical.

Pay Transparency Act

Annual Full Pay Range: $123,000 - $237,800 (will be prorated if the appointment percentage is less than 100%)

Hourly Equivalent: $58.91 - $113.89

Factors in determining the appropriate compensation for a role include experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. The Hiring Pay Scale referenced in the job posting is the budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position. The Annual Full Pay Range may be broader than what the University anticipates to pay for this position, based on internal equity, budget, and collective bargaining agreements (when applicable).