Senior Coding Educator

Hourly Pay Range:

Position Highlights:

• Position: Senior Coding Educator
• Location: Skokie, IL
• Full Time
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm

A Brief Overview:
The purpose of this job is to educate physicians, other qualified billing providers, and ancillary staff on their documentation for all specialties and review providers progress notes, as needed, to ensure coding/billing compliance in accordance with coding rules, third party payor guidelines, governmental regulations, and MG's Coding Compliance Program. The Senior Analyst will conduct face-to-face summary review sessions to report findings to the Practice Manager, Provider audited, and/or Senior Management of the MG. Through the audit/review process, this person will also conduct a report back to the provider and practice manager any income enhancing opportunities that might be uncovered in the investigation. The Senior Analyst, as a coding and billing expert, will assist all freestanding and provider-based outpatient departments with ICD-10, CPT-4, and HCPCS coding education and billing regulation interpretation. They will also assist in conducting department presentations.
What you will do:

• Analyzes progress notes, op reports, pathology reports, encounter forms, explanation of benefits, patient insurance information, and various other health information documents for pro-fee coding and billing accuracy.
• Assigns appropriate ICD-10, CPT, and HCPCS codes to medical record documentation under review by applying physician specialty coding rules, third party payor guidelines, and Medicare Local Medical Review Policies.
• Assists Manager/Director with providing information to the physician or medical specialty based on the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) risk areas. Reads the OIG's Semi-Annual reports and the OIG'S/CMS's Annual Workplan, in addition to notifications published on government websites.
• Performs physician and departmental documentation reviews based on industry standard coding and billing guidelines and payer policies to provide documentation and workflow improvement opportunities.
• Works with MG physicians or clinic personnel, HIRS, to interpret medical record documentation and/or documentation summary as necessary.
• Works with Customer Service and MG Operations to review and resolve escalated patient coding disputes.
• Works collaboratively with Billing, HIRS, overseeing provider/specialty and Denials Management Team to provide educational and/or income enhancing opportunities when issues are identified by those teams.
• Conducts educational sessions with Site Directors, Practice Managers, and providers on frequently seen coding errors in their site and assists with implementing changes to improve coding quality and minimize compliance risk.
• Provides feedback to Manager/ Director that identifies inefficient coding/operational processes.
• Assists with related special projects as assigned by Manager/ Director.
• Initiate and provide coding education to all MG billing providers, focusing on Evaluation and Management (E&M) documentation and billing requirements, as well as any specialty-specific coding guidelines.
• Works on special projects with the Hospital Billing Business Office and/or the Finance Department to perform reimbursement analysis functions as assigned by Manager/ Director.
• Submits ideas to Manager of Coding Quality & Auditing departmental newsletter based on coding/billing issues, coding help-line questions, or results of provider audits. May produce Monthly Newsletter if assigned.
• Participates in Coding and Business Operation Education in-services assigned by Manager
• Researches multi-specialty coding and billing questions received from the Coding Help-line/email for EHMG provider/staff and provides verbal or written response as appropriate. Maintains filing system of all questions received and answers provided to caller.
• Identifies trends or patterns of questionable coding and billing practices at Hospital Outpatient and Medical Group sites and reports issues to Manager.
• Reports compliance concerns to Manager or compliance hotline according to the Endeavor Healthcare Corporate Compliance Policy/Procedures.
• Develops physician coding tools such as ICD-10 and CPT-4 cheat sheets, coding grids, tip sheets and other educational material for multi-specialty providers to identify appropriate codes or modifiers reimbursed by payers for services performed.
• Assists in the creation of progress note templates per specialty utilizing the CMS documentation regulations or CPT Assistant guidelines as requested by physician's) or assigned by supervisor.
• Attends multi-specialty physician coding, billing, reimbursement seminars to maintain and increase coding, billing, reimbursement expertise/ knowledge.
• Maintains coding credential by obtaining the requiring continuing education credits per calendar year.

What you will need:

• Degree: Bachelor's degree in Health Information Management, Healthcare Administration, Nursing, or related field required; equivalent years of work experience in related field will be considered in lieu of degree
• Certification: RHIA, RHIT, CCS-P, CCS, or CPC required.  CPMA preferred.
• Experience: 3-5 years of related experience in physician and hospital outpatient medical billing, reimbursement, physician audits, chart review, coding compliance, medical office or patient accounts. 1-2 years’ experience working with Senior Physician Management a plus

Other required skills

• The ability to work independently, with little to no supervision
• Strong presentation and communication skills
• The ability to interpret and analyze medical record documentation, encounter forms, and lab reports, Explanation of Benefits, CMS claim forms, third party payor guidelines and government regulations.
• Aptitude for medical terminology, ICD-10, CPT-4, and HCPCS coding systems.
• Demonstrated expertise in multi-specialty evaluation & management (E/M) coding.
• Knowledge of research steps utilized to identify appropriate code selection or billing requirements.
• Proficiency in MS Office's suite of products, including Excel and PowerPoint, and the internet.
• Experience with Epic Billing Systems, including chart review, transaction inquiry, etc.

Benefits:

• Career Pathways to Promote Professional Growth and Development
• Various Medical, Dental, and Vision options
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Free Parking at designated locations
• Wellness Program Savings Plan
• Health Savings Account Options
• Retirement Options with Company Match
• Paid Time Off and Holiday Pay
• Community Involvement Opportunities

Endeavor Health is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system committed to providing access to quality, vibrant, community-connected care, serving an area of more than 4.2 million residents across six northeast Illinois counties. Our more than 25,000 team members and more than 6,000 physicians aim to deliver transformative patient experiences and expert care close to home across more than 300 ambulatory locations and eight acute care hospitals – Edward (Naperville), Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenbrook (Glenview), Highland Park, Northwest Community (Arlington Heights) Skokie and Swedish (Chicago) – all recognized as Magnet hospitals for nursing excellence. Located in Naperville, Linden Oaks Behavioral Health, provides for the mental health needs of area residents. For more information, visit https://www.endeavorhealth.org/careers.

When you work for Endeavor Health, you will be part of an organization that encourages its employees to achieve career goals and maximize their professional potential.

Please explore our website (https://www.endeavorhealth.org/careers) to better understand how Endeavor Health delivers on its mission to “help everyone in our communities be their best”.

Endeavor Health is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. Please refer to the main career page for more information.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is at the core of who we are; being there for our patients and each other with compassion, respect and empathy. We believe that our strength resides in our differences and in connecting our best to provide community-connected healthcare for all.

EOE: Race/Color/Sex/Sexual Orientation/ Gender Identity/Religion/National Origin/Disability/Vets, VEVRRA Federal Contractor.