Assignment: HIM Coder Benchmarking and Budget
You are the HIM Director at General Hospital, a 60-bed acute care facility.
You need to evaluate your staff and determined if your department is meeting benchmarks and if you are able to justify the staff. Remember that coders are required to get education on ICD-10-CM for 24 CEU's. All of your coders will be affected by this upcoming change in the nation's coding system. You must design a training and development plan to ensure the coders have the adequate skills necessary to be successful. Make sure you justify for that training time with your staff.
Your plan must address the following items:
i. Perform a benchmark analysis on the Coding department. Make sure you put the data in Excel. In a Microsoft Word document, explain your findings. Identify trends. Look to see who is meeting productivity.
ii. Analyze your staffing and provide feedback to each individual on their performance in a formal performance appraisal report.
iii. Determine the location and method of delivery, including required number of hours per week needed to accomplish each the departments average
iv. Create a coder coverage plan to ensure coding does not get backlogged as a result of the training (e.g. will the coders work overtime, will you hire contract coding staff, etc.).
v. Build a cost-benefit analysis for your decision to keep the coding coverage the same, add to it or remove from it. Put the data in Excel and explain your results in a Microsoft Word document. Should you hire contract coders or use your current staff?
You require the following productivity from your coders:
Inpatient/observation charts - 3 per hour
Same day surgery charts - 4 per hour
Ancillary (e.g. lab, radiology) - 23 per hour
Emergency room charts - 10 per hour
The annual volumes for each patient type are:
Inpatient/observation - 11,000
Same day surgery - 13,000
Ancillary - 101,000
Emergency room - 43,000
|
Individual
|
Annual
|
Averages
|
|
Name
|
Year 1
|
Year 2
|
Year 3
|
|
Sarah
|
6100
|
5900
|
6000
|
|
Tonya
|
5837
|
6400
|
5999
|
|
Alex
|
6002
|
5900
|
6200
|
|
Brett
|
6109
|
6110
|
6300
|
|
Ciry
|
50100
|
50001
|
50900
|
|
Donna
|
50000
|
50200
|
51000
|
|
Deanna
|
22088
|
22900
|
21089
|
|
Elaine
|
22100
|
21099
|
22900
|
You have 4 full-time coders (all holding the CCS or RHIT credential) as follows:
Sarah - codes inpatient/observation accounts and makes $24/hour
Tonya- codes inpatient/observation accounts and makes $24/hour
Alex - codes same day surgery accounts and makes $21/hour
Brett- codes same day surgery accounts and makes $21/hour
Ciry - codes ancillary accounts and makes $15/hour
Donna- codes ancillary accounts and makes $15/hour
Deanna - codes emergency room accounts and makes $18/hour
Elaina- codes emergency room accounts and makes $18/hour
Contract Coding Staff Expenses
Salary - $60/hour
Hotel - $89/night (includes taxes)
Meals - $40/day
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.