Q&A: Assigning staff roles in a coding department

Q: I'm a coding manager reorganizing work assignments for my entire department. What should I consider as I determine what types of records each coder should focus on?

A: Work assignments should be such that they are achievable within the time the staff members are scheduled. Full-time coders get into a rhythm when coding certain case types. This means that their speed ramps up as they are coding their cases.

This is common for all record types; however, it requires that the coder be assigned the same type of cases to gain momentum. Assigning a few hours’ worth of ancillary tests, ambulatory surgery, and inpatient cases will not allow the coder to gain traction. However, if the coder is assigned only ancillary tests or ambulatory surgeries, the coder is likely to achieve the rhythm to optimize productivity. Unfortunately, in some smaller organizations, the luxury of doing only one record type during a shift is not possible.

Although that arrangement might be ideal for achieving higher productivity, it may not satisfy the coder. Coders enjoy reading about different clinical scenarios and the opportunity to learn. If the coder is assigned only E/M encounters for an internist, they will become proficient in coding these but bored by the lack of variety.

Providing the coding team with a variety of record types to code each week allows the members to gain and hone their skills, exposes them to more clinical circumstances and treatment approaches for those clinical conditions, and allows you, as the director, to be able to leverage their time effectively.

The ideal situation is to have the members of your coding team cross-trained and competent to do more than two record types. This provides staffing flexibility during peaks, vacation, and vacancy coverage.

Editor’s Note: This answer is excerpted from The Contemporary Guide to Health Information Management.

Need expert advice? Email your questions for consideration in the Revenue Cycle Daily Advisor. Note: We do not guarantee that all questions will be answered.