Job Summary and ResponsibilitiesAs our Lead Inpatient Coder, you will be a cornerstone of our medical coding department, providing essential leadership and strategic direction for our inpatient coding team. You will be instrumental in driving coding accuracy, ensuring regulatory compliance, and optimizing revenue cycle performance for complex medical cases, making a direct impact on our healthcare data integrity and financial health.
Every day you will provide expert technical guidance, conduct comprehensive quality oversight, and perform complex coding audits. You will actively collaborate with clinical and revenue cycle teams to enhance documentation and streamline processes. A significant part of your role involves mentoring, training, and fostering the professional growth of coding staff, ensuring adherence to the highest coding standards and best practices.
To be successful in this role, you will possess advanced inpatient coding credentials (e.g., CCS, RHIA, RHIT), extensive experience with DRG methodologies, and a deep understanding of official coding guidelines. You must demonstrate exceptional leadership, communication, and analytical skills, with a passion for quality improvement and team development in health information management (HIM).
- Lead and mentor a team of inpatient coders, serving as the primary point of contact for guidance, support, and complex issue resolution.
- Apply expert-level coding knowledge to accurately assign and validate ICD-10-CM/PCS codes and MS-DRGs for complex inpatient cases.
- Ensure coding quality and compliance through routine reviews, identification of trends, and support of internal and external audit activities.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with CDI, Quality, Case Management, and Revenue Integrity teams to resolve documentation and coding discrepancies.
- Drive continuous improvement by providing one-on-one feedback, developing educational materials, and promoting best practices among coders.
- Contribute to operational efficiency by tracking productivity, reporting quality trends, and supporting process optimization initiatives.
Job Requirements
Required:
RHIT or RHIA certification.Associate's degree in health information management or related field.3-5 years of inpatient facility coding experience in an acute-care hospital setting.Advanced knowledge of ICD-10-CM/PCS, MS-DRGs, UHDDS, and Official Coding Guidelines.Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.Proficiency with encoder and EMR systems.Ability to provide constructive feedback and coach peers effectively.
Preferred:
CCS certification.Bachelor's degree.Prior experience as a lead, mentor, trainer, or auditor.Experience with complex surgical cases and high-acuity medical records.Prior inpatient coding audit or CDI collaboration experience.Experience supporting remote or vendor-based coding teams.Familiarity with productivity standards, DNFC management, and revenue cycle metrics.
