Re: Job description and pay structure questions

Comments

• sharon.cole

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  For coders CCS, RHIT, or RHIA at the minimum – they are expected (as are nurses) to get their CCDS. We use the same job description since we are all doing the same job. Pay scales I believe are on the same level although I cannot say that for certain as that is managed by our director. We have been unable to keep coders since the team is salaried and they all want to work part time in the coding dept picking up extra hours – this is not allowed per Ascension and so none of them stay longer than a year or so. It was recently decided by the director not to hire coders anymore because of this. It’s a shame because I really value the coding insight. As soon as I complete my BSN in Oct, I will be looking into taking some coding courses and possibly looking into the RHIT, although I have heard the coding classes are a more valuable investment for CDI.
  
  Sharon Cole, RN, CCDS
  CDI Specialist
  254.751.4256
  Sharon.cole@phn-waco.org
  
  
• sharon.cole

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  For clarification – I agree with my director since so much time and resources are used to train someone for CDI. I just hate not having that expertise on the team was what I meant.
  
  Sharon Cole, RN, CCDS
  CDI Specialist
  254.751.4256
  Sharon.cole@phn-waco.org
  ilege.
• fishdl@shands.ufl.edu

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  · Our pay scale for all CDI Specialists (regardless of background) is the same, and is in line with our Case Management / UR pay scale – which is one level higher than for IP Coders.
  
  
  · We have one job description for CDI Specialist. We do not have different roles – just different strengths.
  
  
  · From our Job Description:
  
  Minimum Education and Experience Requirements: Graduate of an accredited school of nursing with current RN licensure in the State of Florida. Minimum 5 years of recent clinical experience in an acute care hospital setting. Utilization review or medical record coding experience preferred.
  
  OR Minimum 5 years’ experience in medical record coding/reimbursement with Registered Health Information Administration (RHIA) with bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management OR Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) with associate degree OR Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) OR Certified Professional Coder (CPC) with comparable education.
  
  Thanks,
  Donna
  Donna Fisher, CCS, CCDS
  CDI Coordinator
  Ext 48769
  
• Linda_Rhodes

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  Thank you Donna and Sharon for the helpful information!
  Linda
  
  
  
  Linda Rhodes RN, BSN, CCDS
  Manager Clinical Documentation Improvement
  New Hanover Regional Medical Center
  Wilmington, North Carolina
  Office # 910-815-5544
  Cell " 910-777-8344
  e-mail : linda.rhodes@nhrmc.org
  
• don.cdi.rn@gmail.com

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  We have not been successful in recruiting an experienced coding
  professional for the CDI role ... however have repeatedly tried!
  Candidate pool of applicants received were not competitive for the
  role.
  
  1 -- comp & benefits determines pay scales ... and it is different
  (AFAIK, related to their market analysis and comps within the
  organization). Philosophically don't agree with this ...
  2 -- separate PDs, though role, responsibilities, etc. would be the
  same. Role would be full time focus on CDI activities and interests
  (certainly opportunity for special projects, area of interest, etc. but
  that is more of an operational decision than driven by PD). One thing
  that is different, is the required amount of experience is actually a
  bit lower for the coding professional by a year or two.
  3 -- RHIA, RHIT or CCS required. As with nursing, the associates
  degree requires a couple more years of experience than the bachelors.
  Acute inpatient experience (with tertiary setting strongly preferred).
  Strong clinical knowledge base expected.
  
  Don
  
  ============
• Linda_Rhodes

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  Thanks Don. I really would like to fill 2 of my 4 requested positions
  with "the right" coding professional. In the face of ICD-10, I think
  they would only strengthen the CDI team. I will let you know what
  happens.
  Linda
  
  
  Linda Rhodes RN, BSN, CCDS
  Manager Clinical Documentation Improvement
  New Hanover Regional Medical Center
  Wilmington, North Carolina
  Office # 910-815-5544
  Cell " 910-777-8344
  e-mail : linda.rhodes@nhrmc.org
  
• Unknown

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  We have close to a 50/50 mix of coding/HIM professionals and RN’s and the pay scale, as well as the job description, is the same. All of our staff do the same type of chart review and clarification/queries. I do know of departments where the coding staff have a different role, so I could see how that might change the job description. We require either a CCS, RHIT or RHIA for our coding/HIM professionals.
  
  
  
  Linda Haynes, RHIT, CCDS
  
  Manager, CDI
  
  Legacy Health
  
  lhaynes@lhs.org
  
  
  
• evanspx@sutterhealth.org

  June 2013 edited May 2016

  We have hybrid team of RHIA/RN (BS level) and all 100% CCDS. No difference (as it should be) in pay scale as we are all expected and required to have skill sets allowing us to interchangeably audit and review charts concurrently. We work with Core Measures, VBP, ROM, SOI, Complications, MD education, VBP, etc. More than just a DRG review. It is very difficult to find and recruit anyone with experience and either the CDIP or CCDS Credential.
  
  Paul Evans, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CCDS
  
  Manager, Regional Clinical Documentation & Coding Integrity
  Sutter West Bay
  633 Folsom St., 7th Floor, Office 7-044
  San Francisco, CA 94107
  Cell: 415.637.9002
  Fax: 415.600.1325
  Ofc: 415.600.3739
  evanspx@sutterhealth.org