Supervisory Medical Records Technician

Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

The ECHCS Supervisor (Coder) provides oversight of a group of, Coding Leads, and MRTs, with administrative responsibility for planning and directing the work of subordinate staff. In conjunction with the Health Information Management (HIM) Administrator and BOSS staff. This Supervisor will oversee the prioritizing of work. Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Performs a full range of supervisory responsibilities, to include evaluating the performance of subordinate staff, approving sick and annual leave requests, identifying educational or training needs, resolving employee complaints and taking disciplinary actions, when necessary.
• Assigns and distributes work to subordinates, establishes priorities, reviews work of MRTs through auditing and review of accuracy and productivity.
• Maintains workflow and quality of work to assure timely accomplishments of workload. Monitors and maintains a reporting system(s) tracking workload of the coder unit.
• Monitors productivity for all staff.
• Schedules the sequence of work and operations on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis to assure even workflow and distribution, expeditious handling of priorities and the meeting of deadlines.
• Revises schedules/assignments to meet changes in workload considering peak loads, availability of manpower and time limits.
• Makes changes in organization and assignment of duties to provide improvements, promote job satisfaction and increase productivity.
• Prepares workload and production reports; reports on operations and problems encountered; and presents proposed requests for resource needs based on past experience, anticipated staffing, equipment, and space.
• Reviews coding and assist coders in improving coding accuracy; provides coding guidance to various levels of staff to promote consistency in practice and compliance with coding rules and regulations; initiates various reports and analyze data; and coordinates, assigns, and monitors the workflow.
• Analyzes and recommends improvements in documentation systems used to provide patient care to optimize VERA workload, third-party reimbursement, and to manage resources.
• Reviews compliance monitors with subordinates and identifies training needs.
• Identifies training needs of individuals based on productivity and accuracy reports, rejects from billing, and spot checks.
• Works with VISN Coding unit auditors to insure facilities receive coding accuracy statistics.
• Applies comprehensive knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, disease processes, treatment modalities, diagnostic tests, medications, procedures as well as the principles and practices of health services and the organizational structure to ensure proper code selection.
• Monitors ever-changing regulatory and policy requirements affecting coded information for the full spectrum of services provided within the VA.
• Assists facility staff with documentation requirements to completely and accurately reflect the patient care provided, provides technical support in the areas of regulations and policy, coding requirements, resident supervision, reimbursement, workload, accepted nomenclature, denials management, and proper sequencing.

Preferred Experience:
Minimum 3 years of VA coding experience in outpatient, inpatient, and surgical packages, 1 year of VA Lead Coder experience, Prior MRT Supervisor experience.


Please ensure you detail your experience within your resume as it relates to these responsibilities as well as the qualifications listed within this announcement.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Permanent, Monday thru Friday.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/27/2026

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

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

B. Experience and Education: One of the following Experience, Education, or Combination of Experience and Education must be met:

• (1) Experience. One year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, medical coding, and the structure and format of a health records.
• (2) Education. An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical coding, and introduction to health records); OR,
• (3) Completion of an AHIMA approved coding program, or other intense coding training program of approximately one year or more that included courses in anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, basic ICD diagnostic/procedural, and basic CPT coding. The training program must have led to eligibility for coding certification/certification examination, and the sponsoring academic institution must have been accredited by a national U.S. Department of Education accreditor, or comparable international accrediting authority at the time the program was completed;
• (4) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education are qualifying for meeting the basic requirements. The following educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and creditable experience:
  • (a) Six months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, general understanding of medical coding and the health record, and one year above high school, with a minimum of 6 semester hours of health information technology courses.
  • (b) Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or hospital training obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces or the U.S. Maritime Service, under close medical and professional supervision, may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to six months of experience provided the training program included courses in anatomy, physiology, and health record techniques and procedures. Also, requires six additional months of creditable experience that is paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder).

C. Certification. At this level you must have a mastery level certification.

• Mastery Level Certification. This is considered a higher-level health information management or coding certification and is limited to certification obtained through AHIMA or AAPC. To be acceptable for qualifications, the specific certification must represent a comprehensive competency in the occupation. Stand-alone specialty certifications do not meet the definition of mastery level certification and are not acceptable for qualifications. Certification titles may change and certifications that meet the definition of mastery level certification may be added/removed by the above certifying bodies. However, current mastery level certifications include: Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), Certified Coding Specialist - Physician-based (CCS-P),Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA), Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Outpatient Coder(COC), Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC).

1. Loss of Credential. Following initial certification, credentials must be maintained through rigorous continuing education, ensuring the highest level of competency for employers and consumers. An employee in this occupation who fails to maintain the required certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment. At the discretion of the appointing official, an employee may be reassigned to another occupation for which he/she qualifies, if a placement opportunity exists.
2. Grandfathering Provision: 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).

GS-10 GRADE LEVEL DETERMINATIONS

A. Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must also have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-9 level, that includes but is not limited to the following:

• • Review coding and assist MRTs (Coder) in ensuring timeliness and improving coding accuracy;
  • Provide coding guidance to various levels of staff to promote consistency in practice and compliance with coding rules and regulations;
  • Initiate, prepare, and maintain various reports, and analyze data; and may also coordinate, assign, and monitor workflow;
  • Orient and instruct new coding personnel and/or students on coding, abstracting, and use of the electronic health record and encoder software providing
  • Ensure audit findings and claim denials related to coding errors are resolved and/or daily coding rejects corrected for accurate billing and data collection.
  • Monitor trends and/or changes in regulatory and policy requirements affecting coding practices and identify educational needs;
  • Develop coding training materials and present a curriculum encompassing ongoing training initiatives;
  • Provide assistance with coding inquiries from providers, MRTs (Coder), billers, and other facility staff.

B. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• Ability to perform a full range of supervisory duties, to include recommending awards, approving leave, evaluating work, resolving staff issues, and assigning, planning, and coordinating work to ensure duties are completed in an accurate and timely fashion.
• Advanced knowledge of current coding classification systems such as ICD, CPT, and HCPCS for the subspecialty being assigned (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined).
• Ability to provide or coordinate staff development and training.
• Leadership and managerial skills, including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, and managers.
• Ability to collect and analyze data, identify trends, and present results in various formats.

CREDITABLE EXPERIENCE: Experience is only creditable if it is directly related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, the candidate's experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current practice and must be paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder).

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE: To be creditable, experience must be documented on the application or resume and verified in an employment reference or through other independent means.

References: VA Handbook 5005/122, Part II, Appendix G57, dated December 10, 2019

Physical Requirements: Position is mostly sedentary, in an office type setting. Some light lifting (under 15 lbs.), Light carrying (under 15 lbs.), use of fingers to keyboard, and ability to read electronic health records on computer screen.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• License
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Other (1)
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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