Summary This position is located in the Health Information Management (HIM) section at the Phoenix VA Medical Center. MRTs (Coder) are skilled in classifying medical data from patient health records in the hospital setting and/or physician-based settings, such as physician offices, group practices, multi-specialty clinics, and specialty centers.
Learn more about this agency Duties Help
30 Day Hiring Model The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a streamlined 30-Day Hiring Model designed to accelerate hiring while maintaining the highest standards of merit-based selection. This improved process reduces traditional hiring timelines by integrating early coordination, faster assessments, and efficient pre-employment actions. Applicants can expect a more transparent, predictable, and efficient hiring journey from announcement to entry on duty.
What Applicants Can Expect
- Expedited Candidate Review Once the announcement closes, Human Resources will quickly review applications, issue certificates of eligible candidates the day after the announcement closes and refer applicants for hiring manager consideration.
- Quick Interviews & References
HR may arrange interviews and will request references within 3-5 days after being referred to the hiring manager.
- Streamlined Pre-Employment Requirements: Following a tentative offer, applicants should be prepared to complete required steps, such as fingerprinting and background check, credentialing, and medical examination within 3 days of the offer.
- Clear and Timely Communication: Applicants will receive clear communication at key milestones, including referral, tentative offer, and onboarding instructions.
After meeting pre-employment requirements, candidates will receive a final job offer and start date. Onboarding tasks may continue after starting, with HR ensuring timely completion for a smooth transition into VA service.
If selected, applicants should be prepared to come on board within 30 days of the announcement closing. - Selects and assigns codes from the current version of several coding systems to include ICD, CPT, and/or HCPCS.
- Assigns codes to documented patient care encounters (outpatient and/or inpatient professional services) covering the full range of health care services provided by the VAMC.
- Patient encounters are often complicated and complex requiring extensive coding expertise.
- Applies advanced 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.
- 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.
- Applies codes based on guidelines specific to certain diagnoses, procedures, and other criteria used to classify patients under the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) program that categorizes all VA patients into specific classes representing their clinical conditions and resource needs.
- Performs a comprehensive review of the electronic health record to abstract medical, surgical, ancillary, demographic, social, and administrative data to ensure complete data capture.
Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday - Friday, 7am - 3:30pm
Virtual: This is a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Requirements Help
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 evaluation.
- 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. MRTs (Coder) must be proficient in spoken and written English.
- Certifications: MRT (Coder) GS-0675 must have either (1), (2), or (3) below:
(1) Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
- Certified Coding Associate (CCA)
- Certified Professional Coder-Apprentice (CPC-A)
- Certified Outpatient Coding-Apprentice (COC-A)
(2) Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
- 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)
- Certified Coding Specialist (CCS)
(3) Clinical Documentation Improvement
- Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS.
- Clinical Documentation Improvement Practitioner (CDIP)
- Certified Clinical Documentation Specialist
Preferred Experience: 1 year as a Certified MRT (Coder-Inpatient)
Grade Determinations:
Medical Records Technician (Coder-Inpatients), GS-4 (a)
Experience or Education- None beyond basic requirements above.
Medical Records Technician (Coder-Inpatients), GS-5 (a)
Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
~OR~
(b)
Education. Successful completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
(c)
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1. Ability to use health information technology and various office software products used in MRT (Coder) positions.
2. Ability to navigate through and abstract pertinent information from health records.
3. Knowledge of the ICD CM and PCS Official Conventions and Guidelines for Coding and reporting.
4. Ability to apply knowledge of medical terminology, human anatomy/physiology, and disease processes to accurately assign codes to inpatient records based on health record documentation.
5. Knowledge of The Joint Commission requirements, CMS, and/or health record documentation guidelines.
6. Ability to manage priorities and work to complete duties within the required timeframes and the ability to follow up on pending issues.
Medical Records Technician (Coder-Inpatients), GS-6 (a)
Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
(Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1. Ability to analyze the health record to identify all pertinent diagnoses and procedures for coding and to evaluate the adequacy of the documentation.
2. Ability to determine whether health records contain sufficient information for regulatory requirements, are acceptable as legal documents, are adequate for continuity of patient care, and support the assigned codes. This includes the ability to take appropriate actions if health record contents are not complete, accurate, timely, and/or reliable.
3. Ability to apply laws and regulations on the confidentiality of health information (e.g., Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, and HIPAA).
4. Ability to accurately apply the ICD CM and PCS Official Conventions and Guidelines for Coding and Reporting to various coding scenarios.
5. Comprehensive knowledge of current classification systems, such as ICD Clinical Modification (CM) and PCS, CPT, and HCPCS, and skill in applying said classifications to inpatient records based on health record documentation. Knowledge of complication or comorbidity/major complication or comorbidity(CC/MCC), and POA indicators to obtain correct Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG).
Medical records Technician (Coder-Inpatients), GS-7 (a)
Experience. One year creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
(Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1.Skill in applying current coding classifications to a variety of inpatient specialty care areas to accurately reflect service and care provided based on documentation in the health record.
2.Ability to communicate with clinical staff for specific coding and documentation issues, such as recording diagnoses and procedures, the correct sequencing of diagnoses and/or procedures, and the relationship between health record documentation and code assignment.
3.Ability to research and solve coding and documentation-related issues.
4. Skill in reviewing and correcting system or processing errors and ensuring all assigned work is complete.
5. Ability to abstract, assign, and sequence codes, including complication or comorbidity/major complication or comorbidity (CC/MCC), and POA indicators, to obtain the correct MS-DRG.
Medical Records Technician (Coder-Inpatients), GS-8 (a)
Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level
(Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
1.Ability to analyze the health record to identify all pertinent diagnoses and procedures for inpatient coding and to evaluate the adequacy of the documentation. This includes the ability to read and understand the content of the health record, the terminology, the significance of the comments, and the disease process/pathophysiology of the patient.
2. Ability to accurately perform the full scope of inpatient coding, including inpatient discharges, surgical cases, diagnostic studies and procedures, and inpatient professional services.
3. Skill in interpreting and adapting health information guidelines that are not completely applicable to the work or have gaps in specificity, and the ability to use judgment in completing assignments using incomplete or inadequate guidelines.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-4 to GS-8.
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. There is walking, bending & reaching required, such as for filing or locating material & carrying items such as reports, documents/supplies.
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/.
Additional information Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
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