The Director of Coding, under the direction of the Vice President, Revenue Cycle, will lead and provide strategic direction to the ambulatory and facility coding function at Memorial Health (MH).  The Director works collaboratively with the Vice President, Revenue Cycle to implement strategic level improvement projects, maintain coding performance, sustain regulatory compliance and achieve high employee retention and satisfaction.  The Director uses a team based approach to guide directors, managers, departmental subject matter experts, and staff to maintain daily coding operations, promote high-quality cost-effective patient management, optimize department resources, and mentors and reviews staff performance.  Additionally, the Director demonstrates outlined management competencies, project management abilities and timely implementation successes. The Coding Director will be responsible for collaboration and alignment of all Coding activity at all MH affiliates. The Director will work proactively with physicians and the entire health care team to meet the strategic goals of the division and Health System. 

Education:
• Bachelors Degree in health information management or related field required. CPA or Master’s degree preferred.
Licensure/Certification/Registry:
• AHIMA coding certifications (CCA, CCS, CCS-P)
• HFMA financial certification (CRCR, EHRC, CHFP)
• AAPC certifications (CPC, COC, CIC, CEMC)
Experience:
• Minimum of 7 years clinical and/or managerial experience in acute care hospital or equivalent combination required.
• Evidence of experiences which define competence in personnel management and program development.
• Experience with 3M coding products required
• Experience with Cerner, Epic, CPSI or Touchworks preferred
• Experience in HIPAA and HITECH privacy matters and issues resolution.
• Must have experience in project management and demonstrated success in project execution and implementation.
Other Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
• Demonstrated leadership, creativity, integrity, vision, and initiative.
• Must possess strong oral and written communication skills, planning skills, and change management skills.
• Extremely strong skills in personal diplomacy; demonstrates personal traits of a high level of motivation, team orientation, professionalism and trustworthiness.
• Must possess sound decision-making ability, operate well under pressure and be tenacious in resolving difficult problems.
• Demonstrated ability to deal effectively with colleagues at all levels of the organization required, including medical staff.
• Support the Vice President Revenue Cycle in all key strategic initiatives and daily privacy/compliance tasks.
• Must possess ability to work within a matrix environment and as a part of a revenue cycle team.

1. Manages, implements and champions strategic change for MH. Oversees the allocation of staff for proper utilization of personnel in relation to patient, service line, and organizational needs.  Manages the daily operational activities of all staff in conjunction with other members of the management team.

2. Interview, hire, train, retain and continually educate Coding departmental staff and MH affiliates. Routinely measure, report and review individual staff performance, productivity and achievement of outlined indicators.  Identifies opportunities for professional and personal development of self and team members.  Reviews staff and team’s primary responsibilities and duties of the job in an attempt to improve process and enhance efficiency.  Complete performance appraisals, corrective actions, coaching and other personnel related functions as deemed necessary.

3. Complete research and analysis as needed to evaluate various operational issues and processes and present findings with appropriate recommendations. Implement appropriate findings.  Analyzes data reports and statistics that contribute to improvements in patient care, productivity, and hospital-related services.  Identify opportunity to apply those improvements and implement as appropriate.  Assists in enhancing the department’s revenue cycle, quality improvement and compliance initiatives.  Ensures publication of monthly performance metric dashboards for all departments of responsibility.

4. Provides expertise and direction to MH Coding colleagues for solving complex clinical and financial patient problems regarding revenue cycle issues, information technology approaches, continuity of care documentation, and systems management. Develops, modifies and implements effective policies and procedures in order to meet operational goals and objectives.  Identify, analyze and recommend improvements for coordinating activities and informational needs between the Coding team and other revenue cycle departments within the system.

5. Embodies the Memorial Health Performance Excellence Standards of Safety, Quality, Integrity and Stewardship, that support our mission, vision and values:

6. Assists VP Revenue Cycle in developing a strategic plan that reflects priorities of the Health System and all affiliates in the changing health care environment. Responsible for collaborating with MH entities to assist in implementation of best practices and benchmarked process improvements.  Develop personal, professional and team goals/objectives within the department and other affiliated hospital areas.

7. Facilitates relationship between MH staff and physician leaders. Coordinates with members of the MHS healthcare team and other hospital/MD office/other ancillary staff to obtain complete and accurate coding information regarding a patient’s medical and financial status. Works to achieve clear and concise clinical documentation and increase physician utilization of information systems.

8. Serve as a member of appropriate committtees (ie the Medical Records Committee, RAC Committee, MHS Compliance Team, Compliance Liaisons, Chargemaster, System HIM/Coding initiatives Administrative Improvement teams (AIM), Quality Practice Committee and Project PC, Department Managers and other steering committees) as determine from time to time. Serve as a champion for Revenue Cycle process efficiency and participate in routine meetings to facilitate timely and accurate billing. 

9. Monitors and prepares annual operating budget in accordance with expense and staffing guidelines. Annually develops system goals and objectives, reflecting the strategic planning priorities of the MH.  Assures preparation for JCAHO, IDPH, compliance with HIPAA, and thorough knowledge of state and federal laws.

10. Promotes MH Guest Relations philosophy, Statement of Values, and insures internal and external Customer Satisfaction. 

11. Performs other related work as required or requested.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by incumbents of this job.  Incumbents may be requested to perform tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.