Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder)

Clarification from the agency

Open to current permanent employees of Bedford VA Medical Center and all other Department of Veterans Affairs (VHA) employees, including permanent Veterans Canteen Service employees, current permanent full-time Hybrid Title 38 and permanent full-time Title 38 employees. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Supervisory Medical Record Technicians (Coder) are responsible for supervising coding staff at the facility level. Supervisory MRTs (Coder) must be able to perform all duties of a MRT (Coder). The supervisory coder is responsible for the supervision, administrative management, and direction of coding staff. They are responsible for program management of a coding section/unit to ensure performance monitors are established and met.

Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• 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.
• Informs higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload.
• Recommends employees for promotions, reassignments, recognitions, retention or release of probationary employees, or other changes of assigned personnel.
• Serves as an expert coding resource to ensure accuracy and integrity of all coding.
• Collaborates with revenue, compliance, and other departments to support coding accuracy that is consistent with the official guidelines for coding and reporting.
• Resolves claim edits referred to coding management and monitor reports for outstanding services, rejects, or uncoded episodes of care for inpatients and/or outpatients.
• Ensures claim denials related to coding errors are resolved, and/or daily coding rejects are corrected for accurate billing and data collection.
• Assesses current audit findings and evaluate impact to coding and documentation practices.
• Oversee the reporting of coding and documentation audit results to leadership.
• Collects and prepares data for studies involving inpatient stays and outpatient encounters for clinical evaluation purposes, prepares and maintains a variety of complex records and daily, monthly, or "on demand" reports, as requested.
• Creates and monitors outpatient reports, inpatient case mix reports, top DRGs, and key performance indicators to identify patterns, trends, and variations.
• Investigates and evaluates potential causes for changes or problems and collaborate with the appropriate staff to effect resolution or explain variances.
• Participate in the formulation of objectives and strategies utilizing coded data to support goals for patient care, teaching, research, and optimizing management of resources.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm
Telework: Not Authorized.
Remote: This position is being filled as remote (i.e., the employee will not work at a VA Facility or VA-Leased space).
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 518-F08570
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Notifications:

• Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.
• Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent non-award SF-50 (notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position, title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held.
• This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay.
• Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.
• Virtual/Remote Work Status: This position is eligible for Remote/Virtual work. However, this position may fall under the Presidential Memorandum titled "Return to In-Person Work" which requires you to go into the office. By applying to this position, you are acknowledging that you maybe be required to report in person to a designated location deemed by management.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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:

a. Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)

b. Experience and Education

(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.
OR,
(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;
OR,
(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. Persons hired or reassigned to MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have a mastery level certification. 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).

d. 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.

f. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service.

g. English Language Proficiency. MRTs (Coder) must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations: Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder), GS-10

• Supervisory coder assignments can be established for any of the coder subspecialties (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined). The subspecialty will be reflected in the title, e.g., Supervisory MRT (Coder- Outpatient).
• Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
• Certification. Employees at this level must have a mastery level certification.
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. 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.
2. Advanced knowledge of current coding classification systems such as ICD, CPT, and HCPCS for the subspecialty being assigned (outpatient, inpatient, outpatient and inpatient combined).
3. Ability to provide or coordinate staff development and training.
4. Leadership and managerial skills, including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, and managers.
5. Ability to collect and analyze data, identify trends, and present results in various formats.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

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.

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.

Resume Reminder: Your resume must include the following information for each job listed:
1. Job title
2. Duties (be as detailed as possible)
3. Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008)
4. Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week).

Please be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail.

Recommended: Even though we do not require a specific resume format, your resume must be clear so that we are able to fully evaluate your qualifications. To ensure you receive appropriate consideration, please list the duties you performed under each individual job title. If we are unable to match your experiences with the positions held, you may lose consideration for this vacancy. We cannot make assumptions regarding your qualifications.

An incomplete application will receive a rating of IFFM (ineligible due to missing forms). Requests for reconsideration will not be considered for applicants who fail to submit a complete application package. We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software or fax transmissions.

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.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

NOTE: It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date of this vacancy announcement.

YOU WILL NOT BE CONTACTED FOR CLARIFICATION OR MISSING DOCUMENTATION.

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

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

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
• Other Supporting Documents
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (for Eligibility and/or Time-in-Grade):

If you are a current federal employee, you must attach your most recent, non-award SF-50. This SF-50 should not be more than a year old and must show your current position, grade and step. Award SF-50's typically do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted if they do not include Grade and Step. In order to clearly demonstrate you possess the time-in-grade as required by the announcement, additional SF-50s should be attached which clearly demonstrate the minimum time-in-grade requirement. Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:

• Within grade increases at the highest grade held
• Promotions with an effective date more than one year old
• SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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