Introduction
Health information management is a crucial field in the delivery of care in health care systems. Health information management is concerned with the acquisition, analysis, and protection of information that is required for the optimal provision of care (The American Health Information Management Association, 2016). Such information might include patient history, physical examination results, clinical information, laboratory results, results from radiological departments, and the treatment history among other information (The American Health Information Management Association, 2016).
The workers in the health information management field are trained to possess different skills and an understanding of the processes in different fields (The American Health Information Management Association, 2016). For instance, they receive training in information management technology in order to prepare in different digital means of information storage. Workers in health information management have different job titles, descriptions, and work in diverse settings to perform different mandates (The American Health Information Management Association, 2016).
Certified Coding Coder Career
Job Description
The preferred career is that of a certified coding professional. The job of a coding professional entails various activities (Health Information Careers, 2016).Firstly, coding professionals are tasked with performing coding audits on the patients who are admitted in hospitals. The coding of the patients admitted in hospitals is performed by other members of the hospital staff. The coding professional performs the audits to ensure that they are done according to the guidelines in place (Health Information Careers, 2016).
In the event of findings that show the need for staff training, the coding professionals is tasked with preparing and implementing relevant educational programs. For instance, the auditing results might show areas in the coding process where there are widespread errors. The coding professional has a duty to ensure such errors are not propagated. This is done by implementing education programs to develop the capacity, skills, and the expertise of the coding staff. This is a sustainable way of eliminating errors in the coding process (Health Information Careers, 2016).
Job Responsibilities
Some of the responsibilities of coding professionals include the auditing of health care records to ensure that the coding and Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Groups are entered accurately (Health Information Careers, 2016). Another responsibility of the coding professional is to develop and implement education programs for the capacity building of the coding specialists, the physicians, and the documentation specialists (Health Information Careers, 2016). Coding professionals are also the experts and consultants in matters of coding. Coding professionals also liaise with the physicians when electronic query applications are required. Finally, the coding professionals have a responsibility to report the results of the audit on the accuracy of the Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Groups and coding (Health Information Careers, 2016).
There are alternative titles to the coding professional that still describe the same career path. Some of these titles include coding auditor, coding validator, and certified coding professional (Health Information Careers, 2016).
Compensation
As per the national average, certified professional coders are paid an average hourly rate of 17.21 dollars. However, the hourly rates range between 12.83 dollars and 23.29 dollars (Payscale, 2016). The hourly tips are at 2.28 dollars. The overtime pay for certified professional coders ranges between 16.46 and 34.68 dollars an hour (Payscale, 2016). The bonuses given to certified professional coders on a national average range between 0 and 1824 dollars. The profit sharing ranges between 297.99 and 9933 dollars and the total pay ranges between 27419 and 51753 dollars (Payscale, 2016).
The compensation of certified professional coder changes because of different variables. For instance, the locality in which one works will influence the compensation of a certified professional coder. The table below shows the changes in different compensation variables based on the geographical location of the coder.
Source: Payscale (2016).
Conclusion
Health information management is is important for the optimal delivery of care. Physicians and other members of the healthcare delivery team might require certain information to aid in the delivery of services. Certified professional coders ensure that health information is prepared and stored correctly. This is a career that has options for advancement. As one advances, there are more responsibilities and the increase in compensation is comensurate. A certified professional coder contributes significantly to the advancement of health care.
References
The American Health Information Management Association. (2016). What Is Health Information? Retrieved from http://www.ahima.org/careers/healthinfo
Health Information Careers. (2016). Coding professionals. Retrieved from http://hicareers.com/CareerMap/FullDescription.aspx?ID=46
Payscale. (2016). Certified Professional Coder (CPC) Salary (United States). Retrieved from http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Certified_Professional_Coder_(CPC)/Hourly _Rate
