Outpatient Coder
for sections: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. Only include sections that have real specific content. We must not repeat job title. Must not include Job ID etc. Remove boilerplate like EEO, etc. Must preserve all substantive info. We need to parse the posting. Let's extract sections: - Intro: "Come lead with us at Corporate At Houston Methodist, the Outpatient Coder position is responsible for ensuring diagnostic and procedure codes are assigned accurately to outpatient, emergency room, therapy, and/or clinic encounters based upon documentation within the electronic medical record while maintaining compliance with established rules and regulatory guidelines." That's a description of role. Could be "About the role". We'll put that in
under
About the role
. - FLSA STATUS Non-exempt: maybe not needed as heading; could be minor metadata, we can fold into a shortmaybe under About the role? But we can drop if not substantive. Probably we can include as a short paragraph under About the role. - QUALIFICATIONS: Education: Associate’s degree or higher in a CAHIIM accredited program or additional two years of experience (in addition to the minimum experience requirements listed below) in lieu of degree. - EXPERIENCE: One year of relevant outpatient coding experience or completion of the Houston Methodist Coding Apprentice Program. - LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS: Required Must have one of the following: list many certifications. - SKILLS AND ABILITIES: list many bullet-like sentences. - ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: broken into subcategories: PEOPLE, SERVICE, QUALITY/SAFETY, FINANCE, GROWTH/INNOVATION. Each has bullet-like statements. - SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS: WORK ATTIRE, ON-CALL, TRAVEL. We need to decide which sections to output. We have headings: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We need to map content. - About the role: intro description. - Responsibilities: could be ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS (people, service, quality/safety, finance, growth/innovation). Those are responsibilities. - Requirements: could be LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS (required certifications) plus maybe education/experience? But Qualifications heading is separate. - Qualifications: education and experience. - Skills: SKILLS AND ABILITIES. - Benefits: not mentioned; we should not create Benefits section unless posting actually states them. No benefits mentioned, so omit. - Pay: not mentioned; omit. - Schedule: not mentioned; omit. Thus we will output sections: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills. We need to use
for each section heading. Use - for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. Use
for prose.
We need to preserve all substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. Must not repeat job title. Must not include boilerplate like EEO etc.
We must include all details: education, experience, licenses/certifications, skills, essential functions broken down.
We need to decide how to format lists.
For Responsibilities: we have multiple categories each with statements. Could combine into a single
with each statement as - . Or we could have subheadings? But only allowed headings are those specific; we cannot add extra headings like "People Essential Functions". So we just list all statements as list items.
Similarly for Skills: list each skill as
- .
For Qualifications: education and experience could be list items.
For Requirements: list of certifications as
- .
We need to ensure we don't lose any detail.
Let's extract each piece.
Intro paragraph: "Come lead with us at Corporate At Houston Methodist, the Outpatient Coder position is responsible for ensuring diagnostic and procedure codes are assigned accurately to outpatient, emergency room, therapy, and/or clinic encounters based upon documentation within the electronic medical record while maintaining compliance with established rules and regulatory guidelines."
Also FLSA STATUS Non-exempt: maybe include as a short paragraph: "FLSA STATUS: Non-exempt". Could be placed under About the role as a separate
. But it's minor metadata; we could fold into a short
. The instruction: "do NOT put Job ID / requisition numbers as headings — fold minor metadata into a short
or drop it." So we can include FLSA status as a short
maybe after the intro.
Now Qualifications:
Education: "Associate’s degree or higher in a Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management accredited program or additional two years of experience (in addition to the minimum experience requirements listed below) in lieu of degree"
Experience: "One year of relevant outpatient coding experience or completion of the Houston Methodist Coding Apprentice Program"
Thus Qualifications section: list these two items.
Requirements: Licenses and Certifications: list all certifications.
Let's extract list:
- RHIT - Certified Health Information Technician (AHIMA)
- RHIA - Registered Health Information Administrator (AHIMA)
- CCS - Certified Coding Specialist (AHIMA)
- CCA – Certified Coding Associate (AHIMA)
- CCS-P – Certified Coding Specialist Physician-Based (AHIMA)
- CPC – Certified Professional Coder (AAPC)
- CPC-H – Certified Professional Coder – Hospital (AAPC)
- CPC-I – Certified Professional Coder Instructor (AAPC)
- CPC-A – Certified Professional Coder Associate (AAPC)
- CCC – Certified Cardiology Coder (AAPC)
- COC - Certified Outpatient Coder (AAPC)
Note there is duplication later: "Required Must have one of the following:" repeated later; we should not duplicate. We'll list each once.
Now Skills and Abilities: list each bullet.
Let's extract:
- Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
- Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
- Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
- Knowledge of coding classification systems, DRG and APC systems, official coding guidelines and coding compliance
- Knowledge of an electronic medical record and imaging systems
- Working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology
- Proficiency with electronic encoder application
- Extensive PC knowledge - must be able to work effectively in common office software, coding software and abstracting systems
Now Essential Functions (Responsibilities). We'll list each statement.
People Essential Functions:
- Interacts and communicates effectively with members of the coding team and the appropriate stakeholders.
- Participates and provides good feedback during coding section meetings and coding education in-services as well as takes initiative to assist others and shares knowledge with the appropriate stakeholders.
Service Essential Functions:
- Responds promptly to internal and external customer requests.
- Responds promptly and appropriately to requests to code or review coded accounts for accuracy.
- Initiates queries with physicians to obtain or clarify diagnoses and/or procedures as appropriate, utilizing the established physician query process.
Quality/Safety Essential Functions:
- Maintains and achieves departmental standards of coding quality by assigning accurate ICD-10-CM/ICD-10-PCS and CPT codes and APC assignment utilizing an electronic encoder application in accordance with hospital policy and regulatory body guidelines.
- Maintains and achieves departmental standards of abstracting quality by reviewing the discharge disposition entered by nursing and corrects if necessary in order to achieve the highest quality of entered data.
- Assigns and enters physician identification number and procedure date correctly in the medical record abstracting system.
- Reviews medical record documentation and abstracts data into the encoder and Electronic Health Record (EHR) to determine principal or final diagnosis, co-morbid conditions and complications, secondary conditions and procedures.
- Utilizes all tools/resources for accuracy.
- Complies with the Standards of Ethical Coding as set forth by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and adheres to official guidelines.
Finance Essential Functions:
- Utilizes time effectively.
- Consistently codes and abstracts at departmental standards of productivity while ensuring accuracy of coding.
- Supports meeting organizational goal for Accounts Receivables (AR) associated with uncoded accounts.
- Maintains coding timeframes within established departmental standards by ensuring all work items assigned to the coding queues are processed in a timely manner.
Growth/Innovation Essential Functions:
- Critically evaluates own performance, accepts constructive criticism, and looks for ways to improve.
- Displays initiative to improve relative to job function.
- Contributes ideas to help improve quality of coding data and abstracting data.
Now Supplemental Requirements: WORK ATTIRE, ON-CALL, TRAVEL. These could be considered part of Requirements? But we have no specific heading for them; we could include them under Requirements as list items? However the instruction: "Use
for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule)." So we can include supplemental info under Requirements as list items. But we need to decide if we want to include them. They are substantive: Uniform: No Scrubs: Yes Business professional: Yes Other (department approved): No; ON-CALL* note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.On Call* No; TRAVEL** Travel specifications may vary by department**May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes.
We should include these details. They are not benefits/pay/schedule. Could be part of Requirements or maybe a separate section like "Additional Information". But we only allowed headings list; we could put them under Requirements as list items. Or we could create a short
under Requirements. Probably best to include them as list items under Requirements.
Thus Requirements section will contain:
- Licenses and Certifications (list)
- Work attire: Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No
- On-call: Employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (e.g., Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below. On Call: No
- Travel: May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: Yes; May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: Yes
We need to preserve exact wording? The instruction: preserve ALL substantive information; do NOT invent or summarize away detail. So we should keep the wording as close as possible.
Let's capture exact phrasing:
From text:
"SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS WORK ATTIRE Uniform: No Scrubs: Yes Business professional: Yes Other (department approved): No ON-CALL* Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.On Call* No TRAVEL** Travel specifications may vary by department**May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes"
We need to parse that.
We can break into list items:
- Work attire: Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No
- On-call: Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below. On Call: No
- Travel: Travel specifications may vary by department. May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: Yes. May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: Yes.
We should keep the original phrasing but maybe adjust punctuation for readability. However we must not invent or summarize away detail; we can rephrase slightly as long as we keep the meaning. Safer to keep close.
Let's produce list items exactly as:
- Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No
- Employees may be required to be on
for prose. We need to preserve all substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. Must not repeat job title. Must not include boilerplate like EEO etc. We must include all details: education, experience, licenses/certifications, skills, essential functions broken down. We need to decide how to format lists. For Responsibilities: we have multiple categories each with statements. Could combine into a single
- with each statement as
- . Or we could have subheadings? But only allowed headings are those specific; we cannot add extra headings like "People Essential Functions". So we just list all statements as list items. Similarly for Skills: list each skill as
- . For Qualifications: education and experience could be list items. For Requirements: list of certifications as
- .
We need to ensure we don't lose any detail.
Let's extract each piece.
Intro paragraph: "Come lead with us at Corporate At Houston Methodist, the Outpatient Coder position is responsible for ensuring diagnostic and procedure codes are assigned accurately to outpatient, emergency room, therapy, and/or clinic encounters based upon documentation within the electronic medical record while maintaining compliance with established rules and regulatory guidelines."
Also FLSA STATUS Non-exempt: maybe include as a short paragraph: "FLSA STATUS: Non-exempt". Could be placed under About the role as a separate
. But it's minor metadata; we could fold into a short
. The instruction: "do NOT put Job ID / requisition numbers as headings — fold minor metadata into a short
or drop it." So we can include FLSA status as a short
maybe after the intro. Now Qualifications: Education: "Associate’s degree or higher in a Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management accredited program or additional two years of experience (in addition to the minimum experience requirements listed below) in lieu of degree" Experience: "One year of relevant outpatient coding experience or completion of the Houston Methodist Coding Apprentice Program" Thus Qualifications section: list these two items. Requirements: Licenses and Certifications: list all certifications. Let's extract list: - RHIT - Certified Health Information Technician (AHIMA) - RHIA - Registered Health Information Administrator (AHIMA) - CCS - Certified Coding Specialist (AHIMA) - CCA – Certified Coding Associate (AHIMA) - CCS-P – Certified Coding Specialist Physician-Based (AHIMA) - CPC – Certified Professional Coder (AAPC) - CPC-H – Certified Professional Coder – Hospital (AAPC) - CPC-I – Certified Professional Coder Instructor (AAPC) - CPC-A – Certified Professional Coder Associate (AAPC) - CCC – Certified Cardiology Coder (AAPC) - COC - Certified Outpatient Coder (AAPC) Note there is duplication later: "Required Must have one of the following:" repeated later; we should not duplicate. We'll list each once. Now Skills and Abilities: list each bullet. Let's extract: - Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations - Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security - Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles - Knowledge of coding classification systems, DRG and APC systems, official coding guidelines and coding compliance - Knowledge of an electronic medical record and imaging systems - Working knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology - Proficiency with electronic encoder application - Extensive PC knowledge - must be able to work effectively in common office software, coding software and abstracting systems Now Essential Functions (Responsibilities). We'll list each statement. People Essential Functions: - Interacts and communicates effectively with members of the coding team and the appropriate stakeholders. - Participates and provides good feedback during coding section meetings and coding education in-services as well as takes initiative to assist others and shares knowledge with the appropriate stakeholders. Service Essential Functions: - Responds promptly to internal and external customer requests. - Responds promptly and appropriately to requests to code or review coded accounts for accuracy. - Initiates queries with physicians to obtain or clarify diagnoses and/or procedures as appropriate, utilizing the established physician query process. Quality/Safety Essential Functions: - Maintains and achieves departmental standards of coding quality by assigning accurate ICD-10-CM/ICD-10-PCS and CPT codes and APC assignment utilizing an electronic encoder application in accordance with hospital policy and regulatory body guidelines. - Maintains and achieves departmental standards of abstracting quality by reviewing the discharge disposition entered by nursing and corrects if necessary in order to achieve the highest quality of entered data. - Assigns and enters physician identification number and procedure date correctly in the medical record abstracting system. - Reviews medical record documentation and abstracts data into the encoder and Electronic Health Record (EHR) to determine principal or final diagnosis, co-morbid conditions and complications, secondary conditions and procedures. - Utilizes all tools/resources for accuracy. - Complies with the Standards of Ethical Coding as set forth by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and adheres to official guidelines. Finance Essential Functions: - Utilizes time effectively. - Consistently codes and abstracts at departmental standards of productivity while ensuring accuracy of coding. - Supports meeting organizational goal for Accounts Receivables (AR) associated with uncoded accounts. - Maintains coding timeframes within established departmental standards by ensuring all work items assigned to the coding queues are processed in a timely manner. Growth/Innovation Essential Functions: - Critically evaluates own performance, accepts constructive criticism, and looks for ways to improve. - Displays initiative to improve relative to job function. - Contributes ideas to help improve quality of coding data and abstracting data. Now Supplemental Requirements: WORK ATTIRE, ON-CALL, TRAVEL. These could be considered part of Requirements? But we have no specific heading for them; we could include them under Requirements as list items? However the instruction: "Use
for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule)." So we can include supplemental info under Requirements as list items. But we need to decide if we want to include them. They are substantive: Uniform: No Scrubs: Yes Business professional: Yes Other (department approved): No; ON-CALL* note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.On Call* No; TRAVEL** Travel specifications may vary by department**May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes. We should include these details. They are not benefits/pay/schedule. Could be part of Requirements or maybe a separate section like "Additional Information". But we only allowed headings list; we could put them under Requirements as list items. Or we could create a short
under Requirements. Probably best to include them as list items under Requirements. Thus Requirements section will contain: - Licenses and Certifications (list) - Work attire: Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No - On-call: Employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (e.g., Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below. On Call: No - Travel: May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: Yes; May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: Yes We need to preserve exact wording? The instruction: preserve ALL substantive information; do NOT invent or summarize away detail. So we should keep the wording as close as possible. Let's capture exact phrasing: From text: "SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS WORK ATTIRE Uniform: No Scrubs: Yes Business professional: Yes Other (department approved): No ON-CALL* Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.On Call* No TRAVEL** Travel specifications may vary by department**May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes" We need to parse that. We can break into list items: - Work attire: Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No - On-call: Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below. On Call: No - Travel: Travel specifications may vary by department. May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: Yes. May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: Yes. We should keep the original phrasing but maybe adjust punctuation for readability. However we must not invent or summarize away detail; we can rephrase slightly as long as we keep the meaning. Safer to keep close. Let's produce list items exactly as: - Uniform: No; Scrubs: Yes; Business professional: Yes; Other (department approved): No - Employees may be required to be on