Medical Records Technician; Coder - Inpatient

Medical Records Technician (Coder - Inpatient)

5 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants

This range is provided by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

$36,409.00/yr - $72,644.00/yr

This position is located in the Health Information Management (HIM) section at the California VA Health Care System (CVAHCS). MRTs (Coder) are skilled in classifying medical data from patient health records in the hospital setting - and/or physician-based settings - such as physician offices - group practices - multi-specialty clinics - and specialty centers. These coding practitioners analyze and abstract patients' health records - and assign alpha-numeric codes for each diagnosis and procedure.

• United States Citizenship:
  Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• Experience and
  
  Education:
  
  (1) Experience
• One year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology - anatomy - physiology - pathophysiology - medical coding - and the structure and format of a health records
• OR - (2) Education
• An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management - or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g.
  
  - courses in medical terminology - anatomy and physiology - medical coding - and introduction to health records)
• OR - (3) Completion of an AHIMA approved coding program - or other intense coding training program of approximately one year or more that included courses in anatomy and physiology - medical terminology - basic ICD diagnostic/procedural - and basic CPT coding
• The training program must have led to eligibility for coding certification/certification examination - and the sponsoring academic institution must have been accredited by a national U.S. Department of Education accreditor - or comparable international accrediting authority at the time the program was completed
• OR - (4) Experience/Education Combination
• Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education are qualifying for meeting the basic requirements
• The following educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and creditable experience: (a) Six months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology - general understanding of medical coding and 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 health record techniques and procedures
• Also - requires six additional months of creditable experience that is paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder)
• Certification:
  Persons hired or reassigned to MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have either (1) - (2) - or (3) below Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC
• Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC
• Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS
• English Language Proficiency
• MRTs (Coder) must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)
• Grade Determinations: GS-04 Level: Experience or Education
• None beyond basic requirements
• GS-05 Level: Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-04)
• OR - Education
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education - with a major field of…