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Survey says: Qualified coders in high demand
Health care organizations have a critical need for qualified clinical coding professionals, according to a recent survey by the American Health Information Management Association and the American Hospital Association Central Office.
About six in 10 respondents experienced coding vacancies in the 12 months prior to the survey, "Coding Professionals, Today, Tomorrow, and the Future," which was conducted in May 2006. Three-quarters of those with vacancies had a "difficult to extremely difficult" time filling the positions, with nearly one-quarter having unfilled positions for more than six months.
In recent years, coding expertise has become a highly desirable addition to the resumes of applicants for patient access jobs.
Respondents especially sought candidates with job experience (87%) and credentials (81%). Annual compensation for more than half of coding professionals with more than three years of experience was $35,000-$50,000 vs. $20,000-$30,000 for those without experience. Those without experience earned salaries in the range of $20,000 to $30,000.
"These salary jumps are a clear validation of the value professional coders bring to their organizations and the career growth that is possible in a short time for individuals with the right mix of knowledge, experience, and certification," said Nelly Leon-Chisen, director of coding and classification for AHA's Central Office.
Additional performance data required by JCAHO
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is revising its contracts with the nearly 50 organizations that report hospital performance data to require additional patient-level data that will not identify the hospital.
Beginning with second-quarter 2007 core measure data, reported to the Joint Commission by Oct. 31, 2007, performance measurement systems will be expected to report hospital-specific aggregate data for three measure sets, plus a 100% sample of anonymous patient-level data for all performance measures in the measure sets.
At present, JCAHO requires the organizations to report hospital-specific aggregate data for three measure sets, plus a 20% sample of de-identified patient-level data for four outcome measures.
The data reported by accredited hospitals to the Joint Commission and to the Hospital Quality Alliance's Hospital Compare web site "are garnering an increasing amount of attention for use in accreditation, consumer choice, pay for performance, and quality improvement," noted Nancy Foster, the American Hospital Association's vice president for quality and patient safety policy. "It is imperative that they be as accurate as possible."
The recent announcement by JCAHO reinforces its commitment to ensuring that data can be used reliably for a variety of purposes, Foster added.
Health care organizations have a critical need for qualified clinical coding professionals, according to a recent survey by the American Health Information Management Association and the American Hospital Association Central Office.Subscribe Now for Access
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