Is your medical practice working to its full potential? One of the weak links in your organization may be the coding team. However, the more efficiently your medical coders work, the higher your productivity statistics will be. Inaccurate coding can lead to payment delays, partial reimbursements, or even denied claims until you find and correct the errors. In worst-case scenarios, mistakes might lead to investigations into potential fraud or abuse, which take time and money to address.

With that in mind, here are the top tips for maintaining productivity for new and seasoned medical coders that you can start implementing today.

1. Set clear productivity benchmarks

For all new employees, it’s crucial to establish benchmarks for medical coding productivity during the recruitment and onboarding process. You’ll also want to instruct current workers with updated training about your company’s benchmarks, giving them a clearer idea of what you expect.

Explain what coding system or systems you use, such as CPT, HCPCS Level II, or ICD-10-CM, as noted by Coding Clarified, which explains that you must emphasize accuracy first over speed, especially since it takes additional time to discover errors and then re-code the mistakes.

MedsIT Nexus reports that medical coders should typically be able to code anywhere from 15 to 25 cases every hour, which amounts to approximately 120 to 200 cases per day (8 hours). Citing a survey from the  American Health Information Management Association, MedsIT Nexus indicates that new coders (with less than one year of experience) code about 12.2 charts per day. Coders with more experience may code 50 cases or more per day as they become increasingly familiar with the codes they use most often and develop strategies to code more efficiently.

2. Organize and prioritize tasks

Instruct your coders to prioritize the most pressing coding tasks. It’s best to handle time-consuming coding work and complex tasks at the beginning of the day when workers are fresh and functioning at their best. 

3. Use checklists and templates

Create a checklist for the coding team that spells out each step in your coding tasks, to prevent coders from missing important steps in the process and maintain consistency in data management.

It’s also prudent to develop templates for the most common diagnoses or procedures in your office, to avoid coders wasting time by entering the same data repeatedly.

4. Begin with collecting and analyzing productivity data

Set performance goals to boost coders’ accountability. You won’t have insight into their daily productivity rates without gathering data. If every team member fails to meet your goals, it could be time to review their current workload and perhaps adjust your demands.

5. Minimize distractions for maximum focus

Underscore the importance of minimizing distractions, such as using radios, TVs, phones, and tablets during coding. Turning off devices to stay focused is especially crucial when your staff works from home. Address your expectations with telecommuters to help them stay efficient.

6. Outsource RCM services

Delegate tasks to others to free up time for your coders whenever possible. For example, coders shouldn’t be answering phones, which is a low-level task compared to the vital work of medical documentation. 

You don’t need to handle all of your revenue cycle management tasks in-house when third-party professionals can tackle it for you. Partner with an outsourced RCM firm to manage tasks such as processing claims, reviewing code, and correcting errors for your staff. When you outsource these activities, your employees can focus on their core coding tasks without being diverted by other, lesser responsibilities.

Another benefit of outsourcing is that the service you select will ensure you remain compliant with the latest medical coding productivity standards. You can accomplish this without constantly allocating more time and resources for coders to learn and adhere to new developments in industry best practices.

7. Maintain clear physician communication records

Coders should carefully note physicians’ responses to documentation clarification requests to avoid making coding-related mistakes. Maintaining a record of these clarifications will help coders with similar inquiries in the future.

8. Automate coding recommendations based on encounter visits 

Your third-party services provider’s system should be recommending the correct code based on a previously coded patient encounter. Because the code list is preloaded into the system, according to specialty, it’s easy to choose codes or accept the system’s coding recommendations.

Consider how much time your coders will save when they no longer have to search for codes manually. Their accuracy will improve, too, which will save even more time and effort. As a result, coders maintain their high productivity levels without compromising on quality.

9. Gain education and certification

Provide coders with opportunities for continuing education so they can excel in their work for your practice. They will enhance their productivity further by becoming certified, such as through the American Academy of Professional Coders.

10. Leverage financial data analytics

Use the latest financial analytics tools to give your coders better insight into coding patterns, denial rates, areas for improvement, and more. Coders who leverage this data can more easily identify and address bottlenecks in their workflow. By reviewing the analytics, you can help coders become more productive.

11. Streamline clinical documentation with voice dictation software 

Transcribing physician notes is a drudgery that can hold back your goals for faster coding. Instead, it’s practical to integrate voice dictation software into your EHR. 

Physicians and nurses speak much faster than they can type, and modern speech recognition applications can convert spoken words into text accurately and efficiently. Now, your team will have more time to do their coding work rather than spending hours manually typing out notes.

12. Integrate advanced billing and coding software

Avoid relying on siloed information spread across different systems in your practice.

With billing and coding software integrated into your organization’s EHR, your coding team will have instant access to clinical documentation and patient data. They won’t need to spend so much time navigating multiple systems. Coders will be able to code claims more accurately, without delays, and without missing any key details or opportunities for proper reimbursement.

13. Enable real-time coding with mobile provider portals

Integrate a mobile provider portal with your practice management software to capture charges in real-time. You can input changes immediately after patient visits using any mobile device. 

This capability is especially handy when providers visit patients in locations such as dialysis centers or hospitals. Doing so reduces slowdowns, since coders can immediately receive and process information faster. 

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