SUMMARY

The incumbent serves as the Supervisory Medical Record Technician (Coder) in Health Administration Service Section at Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital Healthcare System.

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:

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

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
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
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

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 4 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) May qualify based on being covered by the

• Certification: Persons hired or reassigned to MRT (Coder) positions in the GS-0675 series in VHA must have either (1), (2), or (3) below:
• (1) Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
• (2) Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
• (3) Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS.NOTE: Mastery level certification is required for all positions above the journey level; however, for clinical documentation improvement specialist assignments, a clinical documentation improvement certification may be substituted for a mastery level certification

Grade Determinations:

EXPERIENCE:

One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

EDUCATION

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

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.
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.
Area of Consideration- Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility
2. All other VA employees
3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies
4. All other applicants (in Veterans’ Preference order)
Note: Veterans’ Preference is not applicable to VA employees or employees of other Federal agencies

IF YOU ARE RELYING ON YOUR EDUCATION TO MEET QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

DUTIES

The Supervisory MRT (Coder) is responsible for supervising coding staff at the facility level and must be able to perform all duties of a MRT (Coder). The duties of the position include but are not limited to:

• Responsible for the supervision, administrative management, and direction of coding staff.
• Responsible for program management of a coding section/unit to ensure performance monitors are established and met.
• Perform 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.
• Inform higher level management of anticipated vacancies or increases in workload.
• Recommend employees for promotions, reassignments, recognitions, retention or release of probationary employees, or other changes of assigned personnel.
• Make decisions on the selection of employees for vacant or new positions.
• Serve as an expert coding resource to ensure accuracy and integrity of all coding.
• Collaborate with revenue, compliance, and other departments to support coding accuracy that is consistent with the official guidelines for coding and reporting.
• Resolve 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.
• Provide education to clinical and coding staff. They assess current audit findings and evaluate impact to coding and documentation practices.
• Oversee the reporting of coding and documentation audit results to leadership.
• Collect and prepare data for studies involving inpatient stays and outpatient encounters for clinical evaluation purposes, prepare and maintain 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.
• Investigate and evaluate 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: 7:30am-4:00pm, Mon-Fri
Compressed/Flexible:Not available
Telework: This position is remote work eligible and is currently exempted from return to office requirements. Remote exempted positions are reviewed annually and do not imply permanent remote work status.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000 Supervisory Medical Records Technician (Coder)
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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
• Mastery Level certification through AHIMA, AAPC
• PCS Orders
• Performance Appraisal
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcrip

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/04/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12790949.

• To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire.
• Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package