Hospital Inpatient Coder

Best Care; Omaha (NE); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Nebraska Methodist Health System is seeking a Health Information Coder to review patient records and assign ICD-10-CM codes for inpatient and rehab inpatient stays, ensuring accurate data for reimbursement and reporting. Responsibilities include applying UHDDS definitions, adding POA indicators, achieving high accuracy rates, and collaborating with Clinical Documentation Specialists to improve documentation and coding queries.

Regular hours at the Methodist Corporate Office in Omaha.

Qualifications

• Requires college level anatomy and physiology, biology, disease process and medical terminology.
• Health Information Management degree and/or related healthcare degree (associate’s or bachelor’s) or five years coding experience.
• Participates in mandatory in-services and continuing education as mandated by policies and supervisors.

Responsibilities

• Assigns ICD-10-CM codes to inpatients and rehab inpatients using UHDDS definitions to maximize reimbursement.
• Add appropriate physician name/date to coded procedures and Present On Admission indicators.
• Maintain accuracy with DRG grouping and final claim submission; target high accuracy rates (e.g., 98%–99%).
• Ensure timely submission of claims by providing codes and DRG information within productivity standards.
• Collaborate with Clinical Documentation Specialists to improve documentation and generate compliant queries.

Skills

Analytical ability

Education

Health Information Management degree or related healthcare degree (assoc. or bachelor)

Tools

Optum Computer Assisted Coding

Job description

Why work for Nebraska Methodist Health System?
At Nebraska Methodist Health System, we focus on providing exceptional care to the communities we serve and people we employ. We call it The Meaning of Care - a culture that has and will continue to set us apart. It’s helping families grow by making each delivery special, conveying a difficult diagnosis with a compassionate touch, going above and beyond for a patient’s needs, or giving a high five when a patient beats a disease or conquers a personal health challenge. We offer competitive pay, excellent benefits and a great work environment where all employees are valued! Most importantly, our employees are part of a team that makes a real difference in the communities we live and work in.

Job Summary:

Location: Methodist Corporate Office
Address: 825 S 169th St. - Omaha, NE

Work Schedule: Mon - Fri; regular business hours

Responsible for reviewing all patient files for accuracy, and coding that information into the computer system so that the records will indicate all relevant data.

Responsibilities:

Essential Functions I

Assigns ICD-10-CM codes to inpatients, and acute rehab inpatients medical records to ensure maximum reimbursement and a valid data base utilizing Uniforms Hospital Discharge Data Set (UHDDS) definitions of principal and secondary diagnosis and principles of code assignment.

• Accuracy rate of at least 98%.

Assign appropriate physician name/date to any procedures coded in the Optum Computer Assisted Coding program and adds the appropriate Present On Admission (POA) indicators to appropriate ICD-10-CM diagnoses.

• After completion Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) grouping and save to final to generate claim for timely claim submission.
• Accuracy rate of 99%.

Ensures the availability of diagnosis and procedure codes to allow for the timely submission of claims to insurance companies by performing job functions #1 and #2 within defined productivity expectations.

• 1 chart/hour at Methodist Hospital.
• 2 charts/hour at Women’s Hospital
• 2 charts/hour at Jennie Edmundson Hospital

Review and make appropriate changes if applicable to discharge disposition on inpatient claim.

Assist the Clinical Documentation Specialists to identify opportunities to query the physician for additional documentation.

• Work with the Clinical Documentation Specialists to generate compliant queries to send to the physicians when documentation needs further clarification to ensure clear compliant documentation and maximum reimbursement.

Updates the Optum Computer Assisted Coding tool with the Final DRG or with any queries that are submitted.

Work with the Clinical Documentation Specialists on concurrent coding to generate the working Diagnosis Related Group (DRG), Geometric Mean Length of Stay (GMLOS), and provide information to the Coding Sequence (CDS) when a query needs to be generated from a coding or clinical clarity perspective.

Schedule:

Mon - Fri; regular business hours

Job Description:

Job Requirements

Education

• Requires college level completion of courses in anatomy and physiology, biology, disease process and medical terminology.
• Requires a Health Information Management degree and/or related health care degree (associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree) or five years prior coding experience.
• Participates in mandatory in-services and continuing education programs as mandated by policies and procedures/external agencies and as directed by supervisor.

Experience

• Requires knowledge of ICD-9CM/ICD-10-CM (after 10/1/2014) coding nomenclature which may be acquired through completion of coding course or 4+ years coding experience.
• Experience with personal computer.
• Previous coding experience preferred.

License/Certifications

• Minimum of a Registered Health Information Technologist (RHIT), Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), Certified Coding Associate (CCA), or Certified Professional Coder (CPC) required.

Skills/Knowledge/Abilities

• Analytical ability and ability to note detail when reviewing the medical records and verifying the diagnosis.

Physical Requirements

Weight Demands

• Light Work - Exerting up to 20 pounds of force.

Physical Activity

• Occasionally Performed (1%-33%):
  • Balancing
  • Climbing
  • Carrying
  • Crawling
  • Crouching
  • Distinguish colors
  • Kneeling
  • Lifting
  • Pulling/Pushing
  • Reaching
  • Standing
  • Stooping/bending
  • Twisting
  • Walking
• Frequently Performed (34%-66%):
  • Hearing
  • Repetitive Motions
  • Seeing/Visual
  • Speaking/talking
• Constantly Performed (67%-100%):
  • Grasping
  • Keyboarding/typing
  • Sitting

Job Hazards

• Not Related:
  • Biological agents (primary air born and blood born viruses) (Jobs with Patient contact) (BBF)
  • Physical hazards (noise, temperature, lighting, wet floors, outdoors, sharps) (more than ordinary office environment)
  • Equipment/Machinery/Tools
  • Explosives (pressurized gas)
  • Electrical Shock/Static
  • Radiation Alpha, Beta and Gamma (particles such as X-ray, Cat Scan, Gamma Knife, etc)
  • Radiation Non-Ionizing (Ultraviolet, visible light, infrared and microwaves that causes injuries to tissue or thermal or photochemical means)
• Rare (1-33%):
  • Chemical agents (Toxic, Corrosive, Flammable, Latex)
  • Mechanical moving parts/vibrations

About Methodist:

Nebraska Methodist Health System is made up of four hospitals in Nebraska and southwest Iowa, more than 30 clinic locations, a nursing and allied health college, and a medical supply distributorship and central laundry facility. From the day Methodist Hospital was chartered in 1891, service to our communities has been a top priority. Financial assistance, health education, outreach to our diverse communities and populations, and other community benefit activities have always been central to our mission.

Nebraska Methodist Health System is an Affinitive Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by Federal, state or local law.