Health Information Coder

DaMar Staffing; Monroe (LA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Northeast Delta Human Services Authority is seeking a Health Information Coder to support billing and coding for behavioral health and primary care services. The role requires at least one year of coding experience or RHIT/CCS/RHIA certification and involves auditing notes, processing claims for Monroe Clinic, and improving denials handling.

The position includes potential extended hours during peak workloads and may serve as backup to Credentialing Specialist, with NHSC loan repayment

Qualifications

• One year of patient coding experience or RHIT/CCS/RHIA certification.
• Strong knowledge of billing and coding regulations.
• Ability to audit medical records and improve coding accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Maintains billing and coding fee schedule updates and informs staff of updates with codes and rates per discipline; audits a percentage of progress notes for coding accuracy and notifies staff of discrepancies prior to claim submission.
• Works claims for the Monroe Clinic: compiles billing, distributes to clinic, tracks billing errors, corrects claims, and resubmits or appeals denials.
• Maintains Accounts Receivable current; follows up on claims over 60 days, analyzes denial data, and notifies managers of ways to improve and prevent denials.
• Runs monthly statements and ensures certain clients do not receive statements; tracks accounts and sends 60- and 30-day collection letters; writes off accounts as approved by the Office of Debt Recovery (ODR).
• Serves as backup to the Credentialing Specialist; may work additional hours during peak workloads.

Skills

Patient coding experience

Education

RHIT / CCS / RHIA certification

Job description

Health Information Coder

Northeast Delta Human Services Authority is seeking an experienced Health Information Coder to provide billing and coding support with minimal instructions and directions. This position is directly supervised by the Administrative Program Manager 2. This position is essential in ensuring correct codes are used to bill behavioral health and primary care services per government and insurance regulations. Analyzes medical billing records and identifies billing and coding deficiencies. Serves as a resource and subject matter expert to upper management, the billing department, and clinical staff.

Minimum Qualifications:

One year of experience in patient coding; OR Registration with the American Health Information Management Association as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), or a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA).

Job Duties and Other Information:

Job Duties:

• Maintains billing and coding fee schedule updates as necessary and keeps the billing department and clinical staff informed of updates with codes and rates per discipline. This role randomly audits/reviews a percentage of progress notes for coding accuracy and notifies clinical staff of coding/billing discrepancies prior to claim submission.
• Works claims for the Monroe Clinic: duties include compiling billing and distributing to the clinic, tracking billing errors to complete on a spreadsheet, checking the clearinghouse for rejections and denials, and correcting claims as necessary. Also, resubmits or appeals denied claims.
• Revies and keeps Accounts Receivables current and up to date, calls on claims that are going into the over 60 day category to see why not paid, especially on Healthy Plans, presents finding at team meetings, analyzes claims denial data to track for technical assistance needs, researches denials to determine reason, then notifies fee setters and/or managers of ways to improve and prevent denials in the future, and follows up to makes sure claims that were denied for varied reasons are fixed and flagged for resubmission in the EHR system.
• Runs statements monthly, reviews statements to make sure QMB clients or others that aren't supposed to get statements do not receive a billing statement, and tracks accounts to ensure clients receive 3 billing statements prior to sending collection letters. Must identify delinquent accounts for non-payment and prepare 60- and 30-day collection letters for delinquent accounts. This role writes off accounts to the Office of Debt Recovery (ODR) that have received collection letters and been approved.
• Serves as the backup to the Credentialing Specialist position. Due to peak workloads and time-sensitive assignments, may be required to work additional hours outside of the normal workday.

Position-Specific Details:

Appointment Type: This position will be filled as a job appointment. A job appointment is a temporary, non-permanent appointment used to fill a position for a limited period. Job Appointments shall not exceed a period of four (4) years.

Location: Monroe Regional Office (Administrative Office)

Compensation: NEDHSA is a designated approved National Health Service Corps (NHSC) site. Clinicians who work at NHSC-approved sites are eligible to apply to the NHSC Loan Repayment Program to pay off student loans.

• 2-year Full-Time Clinical Practice: NHSC will pay up to $50,000* for an initial 2 years of full-time clinical practice to clinicians.

Louisiana State Government represents a wide variety of career options and offers an outstanding opportunity to make a difference through public service. With an array of career opportunities in every major metropolitan center and in many rural areas, state employment provides an outstanding option to begin or continue your career. As a state employee, you will earn competitive pay, choose from a variety of benefits, and have access to a great professional development program:

Insurance Coverage More information can be found at https://info.groupbenefits.org/

Parental Leave – Up to six weeks paid parental leave More information can be found at https://www.civilservice.louisiana.gov/Parental-Leave/Default.aspx

Holidays and Leave – State employees receive the following paid holidays each year:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,
• Mardi Gras,
• Good Friday,
• Memorial Day,
• Independence Day,
• Labor Day,
• Veteran's Day,
• Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Additional holidays may be proclaimed by the Governor State employees earn sick and annual leave which can be accumulated and saved for future use. Your accrual rate increases as your years of service increase.

Retirement – State of Louisiana employees are eligible to participate in various retirement systems (based on the type of appointment and agency for which an employee works). These retirement systems provide retirement allowances and other benefits for state officers and employees and their beneficiaries. State retirement systems may include (but are not limited to):

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System ( www.lasersonline.org )
• Teacher's Retirement System of Louisiana ( www.trsl.org ),
• Louisiana School Employees Retirement System ( www.lsers.net ), among others