JOB SUMMARY

The HIM Technician supports the mission of providing quality healthcare to the patients of WhidbeyHealth and Clinics by performing a variety of duties in both a Hospital and Clinic setting. The position is assigned to a specific function and is responsible for scanning, release of information (ROI), administrative functions that support Coding/Charge functions, Deficiency Management and Clinic Provider support.

The position is responsible for supporting patient care activities which may include ensuring documentation for continuity of care and that the integrity of the Electronic Medical Record is met. The HIM Technician is expected to complete all work within the guidelines of HIPAA, hospital policy and procedures, and maintain confidentiality of protected information at all times.

 

PRINCIPLE FUNCTIONS includes the following, other duties may be assigned:

HIM Technician I-II Front Desk Responsibilities: Answer calls at the front desk for continuity of care and patient requests for medical records. Ensures all Continuity of Care and Patient requests are completed within the appropriate timeline as outlined in Turn Around Time procedures. Retrieves medical records from active, inactive, interdepartmental, and storage locations, electronically tracks and delivers paper records and CDs to requested departments and clinics. Works with patients or guardians to secure access to Meditech and Athena Portal. Understands Release of Information protocols for general release for Continuity of Care and Patient requests. Log ROI requests and scan into the patient’s EMR. Handles all walk in ROI requests by verifying patient’s identity and confirms the authority of the individual is valid and provides requested documentation. Clinic Scanning: Retrieves daily records to be scanned from each clinic from Mail room three times per day. Processes and scans timely (within 24 hours of receipt) documents to Index Logic software for uploading into patients EMR. Performs timely review of biscom for all clinics in order to print documents needing wet signatures to corresponding clinics and upload results and documentation into patients EMR through Indexlogic. Works closely with appropriate Clinic assignment to ensure all scanning is done timely, including responding to each Clinic regarding questions or issues. Hospital Scanning/Deficiency Reporting: Checks provider schedules (hospitalist, Surgery, ED and OB) to deliver deficiency folders to providers work areas. Picks up completed deficiency folder, and mark deficiencies as complete. Retrieves records from all departments (Surgery, Radiology, Laboratory, Admitting, MAC, Rehab, Life Center, ED, OB and Med/Surg) for scanning and storage purposes twice a day. Quality check all documentation has correct patient labels, prep and scan MAC, ED, REHAB, Life Center document into the correct area of Meditech. Verify we have received all EMS encounter documentation and scan into EMR.  Send email to coders notifying them which days are ready to code. Identify and ensure all L&I documentation is received and filled out completely. Fax all discharging mom and baby paperwork to the pediatric office for billing purposes. Fax anesthesia records to Anesthesia Business Consultant and NAS Oak Harbor for billing purposes. Deliver and Pick up Mail twice a day. Performs deficiency analysis on all Hospital Services and enters deficiencies as needed. Ensures all documentation is included prior to finalizing the scanning process. History and Physical-if Medicare contains 48 hour attestation Discharge Summaries or final progress note Consult documentation as needed ED documentation complete Operative Report Orders EMTALA Forms Consents All other documents as assigned Reviews areas of the EMR to assess proper documentation is complete within Meditech. Performs coverage for Front Desk, Deficiency, and Admin Assistant Desk when needed. In charge of keeping provider signature log up to date with all new providers as they come in for Legal requests. Performs maintenance on MPI as needed including merging records. Incomplete – Delinquency Management Desk:   Reviews and evaluates all applicable hospital encounters in accordance with Medical Staff By-laws and Policies. Notifies providers weekly regarding their deficiency status. Works closely with providers to ensure we have correct deficiency information. Ensures Administrative Assistant evaluation of queries and missing coding information is updated to the deficiency listing. Reviews daily the listing of deficiencies and ensure they are accurate within Meditech and other EMR repositories.  Process Suspension list every week by 1400 Thursday and send out by email. Process quarterly suspension report send out by email to Quality Assurance. When results print in HIM: Print labels for all results, scan into EMR, update the spreadsheet and email the coders accounts are ready to be coded.  Give results to clinic scanners to upload into Centricity. Notifies facility when demographic or missing information needs corrected. Verifies all path results are received and scanned into the EMR, and enters a deficiency for all outstanding results pending. Performs coverage of Front desk, Chart Analysis, and Admin Assistant Desk as needed. Sorts and stores point of contact scanning documents for Admitting, DI, and LAB. Performs back up coverage for entering information into the state for Birth Certificates for all babies born at the hospital. Administrative support for Coding/Charging: On a daily basis manages missing documentation for Hospital Coding. Compiles discharge report every morning for HIM manager and Coding Team Supervisor. Update DNFB spreadsheet and send out to CEO/CFO and management team at beginning of every month. Enter deficiencies for coding team and route Provider Queries to providers to complete. Update the Inpatient/OBS/Same-Day-Surgery spreadsheet daily with new discharges.  Also move coded accounts to completed tabs.  Mark accounts as having deficiencies pending or ready to code. Performs Data Entry for specific Clinic Areas in order to support the charge entry process for both Hospital and Clinic setting. Sends Holding accounts to the proper departments for corrections. Audit RT/EKG report by DOS for orders and documentation. Enters Palliative Care and L&I charges. Scan in MAC charge slips and other patient care areas. As needed covers chart analysis and scanning for any vacation or sick calls. Answers phones and process’s chart request for continuity of care. Helps with outpatient scanning. Maintains office equipment and ordering of supplies. Performs Admin Assistant responsibilities as needed: Schedule meetings when requested. Take minutes as necessary. Clinic HIM Technician: Supports the Provider by ensuring all HIM record requests are completed in a timely manner. Process all documentation from fax and copy machines and process the fax request within 24 hours. Perform all continuity of care record requests for those patients with clinic visits within 24 hours. Process all HIM requests within the Desk Top in Athena. Work closely with HIM ROI to ensure all ROI requests are done timely in accordance with   Continuity of care turnaround times. Understands ROI principles on releasing records for continuity of care and patient requests. Works closely with nursing and referral teams in order to secure the necessary information regarding medical record documentation. Ensure all desk top folders are processed on a daily bases and referred to the appropriate individual within the Clinic or Hospital. Answers all calls coming into Clinic HIM area in a professional and timely manner. Refers all problem requests to the necessary individual within HIM Central Operations. This may include ROI, MPI, Order and/or scanning concerns. Performs rounds to pick up documentation from nursing stations and process documentation at minimum 3 times per day. Ensures all documentation is labeled and prepped for hospital scanners. Twice Daily sends documentation to hospital by courier for scanning. Scans all Consents to Treat, Acknowledgements, and HIPAA forms on the day of service. Maintains copy and fax machines for clinic documentation. Prepares documents for be routed to providers for signature. Birth Certificate Desk: Processes birth certificate documentation to the state in order for timely distribution of birth certificates to the birth parents. Timely submits requests for correction to the state in order for corrected birth certificates to be completed by the state.

 

An HIM Technician I is eligible to move to a HIM Technician II after the completion of (2) years as an HIM Technician I in their assigned department with the proven ability to perform all essential functions within their designated section and competencies of the position with no recent performance improvement documentation on file.

 

JOB KNOWLEDGE & QUALIFICATIONS

 

Education

High school diploma or equivalent required, advanced education preferred.

 

Training and Experience

One (1) year of previous medical office experience preferred, with prior experience using an electronic health record.

 

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations

Not Applicable

 

OTHER SKILLS & ABILITIES

Must be able to demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge of medical terminology as applicable to the position. Must be able to plan, prioritize and organize work assigned within communicated deadlines. Must demonstrate good organizational skills with an attention to detail. Must possess effective professional interpersonal skills as well as excellent service skills in all interactions with the ability to communicate effectively on the phone, in person and in writing.   Benefit Information and Wage Transparancy:  WhidbeyHealth Employees who work a 0.5 FTE or higher are categorized as, “benefit eligible”.

Click here for benefit information.

Wage Range: $18.152 - $34.619