Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Open to the public, current federal employees of other agencies, veterans, people with disabilities. If you are a current, permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration please apply to vacancy announcement #CBTA-13022721-26-AM

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The major duties of a Medical Records Technician (Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist (CDIS - Outpatient) include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Reviews the overall quality and completeness of clinical documentation in electronic health records.
• 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.
• Reviews clinical documentation and provides education to clinical staff on outpatient episodes of care including observation, emergency department/urgent care, and clinic visits.
• Prepares and conducts provider education on documentation processes in the health record to include the impact of documentation on coding, workload, quality measures, reimbursement, and funding.
• Supports the CDI Nurse Advisor in presenting education to providers about the need for accurate and complete documentation in the health record, appropriate code selection of Evaluation and Management (E/M), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and ICD-10 diagnosis codes, and ensuring documentation supports the codes selected to the highest degree of specificity.
• Adheres to accepted coding practices, guidelines and conventions when choosing the most appropriate diagnosis, operation, procedure, ancillary, or evaluation and management (E/M) code to ensure ethical, accurate, and complete coding.
• Reviews VERA input on missed opportunities in provider documentation identified by the VERA coordinator and coordinate provider documentation education with the VERA coordinator.
• Monitors ever-changing regulatory and policy requirements affecting coded information for the full spectrum of outpatient services provided by the CVHCS.
• 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, and proper sequencing.
• Searches the patient health record to find documentation justifying code assignment based on an expanded knowledge of the organization and structure of the patient record.
• Uses a variety of computer applications in day to day activities and duties, such as Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint; competent in use of the health record applications (VistA and CPRS) as well as the encoder product suite.
• Develops and conducts seminars, workshops, short courses, informational briefings, and conferences concerned with health record documentation, educational and functional training requirements to ensure program objectives are met for clinical and HIM staff.
• Ensures active intra-departmental training program is in place for the HIM staff.
• Facilitates improved overall quality, completeness and accuracy of health record documentation as well as promoting appropriate clinical documentation through extensive interaction with physicians, other patient caregivers and HIM coding/ CDI staff to ensure clinical documentation and services rendered to patients is complete and accurate.
• Ensures the accuracy and completeness of clinical information used for measuring and reporting physician and medical center outcomes with continuing education to all members of the patient care team on an ongoing basis, in partnership with the CDI Nurse Advisor. Identifies trends and/or opportunities to improve clinical documentation.
• Works with the professional clinical staff and provides support and education on documentation issues.
• Provides advice and guidance in relation to issues such as documentation requirements, liability issues, advance directives, informed consent, patient privacy and confidentiality, state reporting, etc.
• Analyzes situations or processes and recommends improvements or changes in documentation as deemed necessary.
• Compiles, reviews, abstracts, analyzes and interprets medical data incidental to a variety of patient care and treatment activities. Reviews the health record and discusses the case with the clinical staff. Performs chart reviews for specific patient populations to facilitate appropriate clinical documentation and ensures the level of services and acuity of care are accurately reflected in the health record.
• Maintains statistical database(s) to track the results and validate the program for identifying patterns and variations in coding practices with regular reports to the medical staff and management.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00am- 4:30pm, alternate schedules negotiable
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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.
• 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:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Experience & Education:
1. Experience. 1 year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, medical coding, & 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 & physiology, medical coding, & 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 & physiology, medical terminology, basic ICD diagnostic/procedural, & basic CPT coding. The training program must have led to eligibility for coding certification/certification examination, & 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 & education are qualifying for meeting the basic requirements. The following educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education & creditable experience:
(a) 6 months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, general understanding of medical coding and the health record, & 1 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 & 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, & health record techniques & procedures. Also, requires six additional months of creditable experience that is paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder).

Grade Determinations:

GS-09 Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the journey grade level of a MRT (Coder-Outpatient);
OR, An associate's degree or higher and three years of experience in clinical documentation improvement (candidates must also have successfully completed coursework in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical coding, and introduction to health records);
OR, Mastery level certification through AHIMA or AAPC and two years of experience in clinical documentation improvement;
OR, Clinical experience, such as Registered Nurse (RN), Medical Doctor (M.D.), or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), and one year of experience in clinical documentation improvement.

Certification. Employees at this level must have either a Mastery Level Certification or a Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification.

Master Level Certification: Certification is limited to those 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 & are not acceptable for qualifications. Certification titles may change & 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 Informatic Administrator (RHIA), Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Outpatient Cordera (COC), Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC).

Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification: This is limited to certification obtained through AHIMA or the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists (ACDIS). To be acceptable for qualifications, the specific certification must certify mastery in clinical documentation. Certification titles may change, & certifications that meet the definition of clinical documentation improvement certification may be added/removed by the above certifying bodies. However, current Clinical Documentation Improvement Certifications include: Clinical Documentation Improvement Practitioner (CDIP) & Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist (CCDS).

You must also demonstrate the following KSAs:
1. Knowledge of coding and documentation concepts, guidelines, and clinical terminology.
2. Knowledge of anatomy & physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology to interpret & analyze all information in a patient's health record, including laboratory & other test results to identify opportunities for more precise and/or complete documentation in the health record.
3. Ability to collect & analyze data & present results in various formats, which may include presenting reports to various organizational levels.
4. Ability to establish & maintain strong verbal & written communications with providers.
5. Knowledge of regulations that define healthcare documentation requirements, including The Joint Commission, CMS, & VA guidelines.
6. Extensive knowledge of coding rules & regulations, to include current clinical classification systems such as ICDCM & PCS, CPT, & HCPCS. They must also possess knowledge of complication or comorbidity/major complication or comorbidity (CC/MCC), MS-DRG structure, & POA indicators.
7. Knowledge of severity of illness risk of mortality, complexity of care for inpatients, & CPT Evaluation & Management (E/M) criteria to ensure the correct selection of E/M codes that match patient type, setting of service, & level of E/M service provided for outpatients.
8. Knowledge of training methods & teaching skills sufficient to conduct continuing education for staff development. The training sessions may be technical in nature or may focus on teaching techniques for the improvement of clinical documentation issues.

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 and meet the criteria).

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-9.

Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment: Light carrying (under 15 pounds); use of fingers; both hands required; hearing (aid permitted); sitting for up to 8 hours; repetitive motions for computer data entry.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

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.