Medical Records Administrator Specialist

Full Job Description

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center is recruiting for an Medical Records Administrator Specialist to function within Health Information Management Service (HIMS) within the Battle Creek VAMC.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Education or Experience: Experience.

Three years of creditable experience in the field of medical records that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of health records and health information systems demonstrating a knowledge of medical terminology, medical records procedures, medical coding, or medical, administrative, and legal requirements of health care delivery systems.

OR, Education. Successful completion of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S.

Department of Education, with a major field of study in health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information management or health information technology.

OR, Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education that equals 100 percent may be used to meet basic requirements. Certification.

Persons hired or reassigned to MRA positions in the GS-0669 series in VHA must meet one of the following: Coding Certification through AHIMA or AAPC. HIM Certification through AHIMA.

Health Data Analyst Certification through AHIMA.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Please see "Additional Information" Section for more information on Grandfathering Provision. Grade Determinations: Medical Records Administration Specialist, GS-5. Experience.

None beyond basic requirements. Medical Records Administration Specialist, GS-7 Experience.

In addition to the basic requirements, one year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. OR, Education.

Applicants who meet the GS-5 grade level may be appointed at the GS-7 grade level, if they possess a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a major field of study in health information management, with an exemplary academic record as demonstrated by: A 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 GPA , as recorded on their official transcript or as computed based on four years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final two years of the curriculum; or A 3.5 GPA or higher out of a possible 4.0 GPA based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field of study, or the required courses completed in the major field of study during the final two years of the curriculum.

AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Knowledge of current classification systems, such as International Classification of Diseases, Current Procedural Terminology, and the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System.

Ability to effectively communicate (written and verbal) with medical center staff, patients, and external entities.

Ability to use data collection and analytical techniques for purposes of review, quality control, studies and analysis [of health information.

Ability to utilize computer applications with varied functions to produce a wide range of reports, to abstract records, collect and analyze data and present results in various formats.

Ability to work independently, adapt to shifting priorities, and meet deadlines. Medical Records Administration Specialist, GS-9 Experience.

One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics described at that level. OR, Education.

Education equivalent to [two] full years of progressively higher level graduate education or a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree from an accredited college or university in a field directly related to health information management.

AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Knowledge of medical and legal requirements related to health information management and health records.

Ability to provide technical advice and guidance on health information management practices. Skill in extracting data from various sources and analyzing health information to create reports.

Skill in researching, interpreting, and applying health information management guidelines.

Knowledge of performance and process improvement techniques to develop new or improved solutions in health information management. Medical Records Administration Specialist GS-11 Experience.

One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates all of the KSAs described at that level. OR, Education.

Education equivalent to three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited university or college in the field of health information management.

AND Demonstrated Knowledges, Skills, and Abilities: Skill in performance and process improvement techniques to develop and implement new or improved solutions in health information management.

Ability to advise management and staff, at various levels, regarding health record documentation requirements and health information management practices based on current industry standards, policies, statues, laws, and regulations.

Ability to plan, justify, develop, evaluate, assess, monitor, and advise on current health information management processes and recommend changes in policies or procedures.

Ability to determine and evaluate compliance with legal, ethical, and regulatory guidelines and accrediting bodies, as they apply to health information management.

Ability to acquire, manage, analyze, interpret, and transform data into Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-5 to GS-11.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. Major Duties:

Incumbent serves in a developmental capacity as technical specialist in health information related matters.

Incumbent provides advice and guidance on the HIM program in relation to issues such as, but not limited, to documentation requirements for coding, liability issues, advance directives, informed consent, scanning processes, speech recognition, release of information, and record control processes.

Conducts research and coordinates projects and studies of record systems. Produces management reports from studies and develops an action plan.

Determines the scope of the study, formulates a plan of action, and produces management reports. Analyzes work processes and recommends changes to improve performance.

Incumbent assists in writing health information policies and procedures to incorporate new or revised approaches to the management of health information while ensuring thatregulatory requirements are maintained when revising policies and procedures.

Assists in all areas of HIM to be able to provide suggestions on process improvement and turnaround times. Incumbent assists in conducting quality assurance studies of health records.

Assists in performing work related to all areas of HIM as well as collaborates with other departments within the medical center and VISN to improve performance and patient care.

Compiles, reviews, abstracts, analyzes, and interprets medical/legal data incidental to a variety of patient care and treatment activities.

Reviews HIM processes and record review systems to maintain or improve turnaround time and the quality of data collection.

Assures the accuracy and timeliness of the capturing of patient services charges (workload) in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

As a member of the local Revenue Cycle/Charge Services Team, interacts with clinical/ancillary departments to ensure that charge order items, represented by HCPCS/CPT codes, accurately reflect services provided.

This includes ensuring charge order items and associated documentation in the health record are accurate, consistent, and reflects the correct service, service date and rendering provider.

Coordinates with Revenue Cycle staff on CPT/HCPCS coding and Charge Description Master (CDM) maintenance updates to coincide with the code set updates.

Researches the status of encounters and charges requiring additional action and identifies missing charges (e.g., monitoring action required or encounters without charges).

Facilitates resolution by coordinating awareness of issues to be resolved for encounters on hold and suspended charges requiring facility actions.

Supports validation of clinical data and encounter accuracy through participation in testing.

For EHRM transitioned sites, audits data components of encounter data capture for accuracy and completeness, as appropriate per scope of MRAS duties, utilizing reports such as Charges out of Bounds, Suspended Charges and General Ledger reports.

Provides clarification and assistance to clinical staff regarding appropriate workload capture. Facilitates correction of clinical documentation issues that result in encounter charge errors.

Facilitates correction of registration data errors to ensure encounter accuracy (encounter type, encounter dates, clinical service, insurance, eligibility, etc.).

Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with clinical, informatics, administrative, revenue, and other departments to facilitate expeditious resolution of coding issues related to the functionality of the CDM and related interface processes that causes delays in submission of the data.

Participates in facility committees and subcommittees related to health information and provides technical advice when necessary.

As part of the local Revenue Cycle/Charge Services Team, collaborates with National Program Offices, Office of Finance, Managerial Cost Accounting Office (MCAO), VAMC, VISN, CPAC, and National Charge Services Teams, as applicable.

Participates in training related to VHA Healthcare Information Systems such as the electronic health record (EHR) and other software packages as they relate to HIM job functions.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 08:00AM-4:30PM Virtual: This is a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 93900A. 93901A, 93902A, 93903A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized