Med Rec Technician

**Duties**:
This job opportunity announcement (JOA) will be used to fill few full-time and permanent Medical Records Technician (Coder In-Patient) vacancies at the Memphis, TN Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) within the Health Information Management (HIM) section.

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. These coding practitioners analyze and abstract patients' health records, and assign alpha-numeric codes for each diagnosis and procedure. To perform this task, they must possess expertise in International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). MRT (Coder) may also provide education related to coding and documentation.

**Work Schedule**: Monday - Friday 08:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

**Fi**nancial Disclosure Report**: Not required
**The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-04 to GS-08.**
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**Physical Requirements**:The work is primarily sedentary. There is walking, bending and reaching required such as for filing or locating material, and carrying items such as reports, documents, and supplies. Entering data and word processing on a personal computer may result in physical problems from the effects of repetitive motion and eyestrain.

**Requirements**:
**Conditions of Employment**:

- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- You may be required to serve a probationary period.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
- Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

**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
- English Language Proficiency.
- Certification. must have either (1), (2), or (3) below:

- (1) Apprentice/Associate Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
- (2) Mastery Level Certification through AHIMA or AAPC.
- (3) Clinical Documentation Improvement Certification through AHIMA or ACDIS.
- Experience and Education:

- Experience. 1 year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, medical coding, and the structure and format of a health records. **OR**,
- Education. An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical coding, and introduction to health records);**OR**,
- Completion of an AHIMA approved coding program, or other intense coding training program of approximately one year or more that included courses in anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, basic ICD diagnostic/procedural, and basic CPT coding;** OR**,
- Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education are qualifying for meeting the basic requirements. The following educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and creditable experience:

- 6 months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, general understanding of medical coding and the health record, and one year above high school, with a minimum of 6 semester hours of health information technology courses.
- Successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or hospital training obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces or the U.S. Maritime Service, under close medical and professional supervision, may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to six months of experience provided the training program included courses in anatomy, physiology, and health record techniques and procedures. Also, requires six additional months of creditable experience that is paid or non-paid employment equivalent to a MRT (Coder).

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation).
- **Preferred Experience**: Priory VA Coding experience.
- In additi