Wiki coding benchmarks

[KGibbar]

My Director is interested in reviewing coding benchmarks in the number of charts that should be reviewed each day. We are in an oncology department, so we have series/recurring accounts for patients currently receiving treatment. The accounts also include doctor visits during the course of treatment. Can anyone provide me with benchmarking information or direct me to a website that she can review?

 

[amyjph]

Not sure the year on this but has some info:

http://decisionhealth.com/static/whitepaper/Coding-Productivity-Benchmarks-whitepaper.pdf

Google is a good place to start:

https://www.r1rcm.com/whitepaper/getting-paid-for-all-you-do?utm_term=medical%20coding&utm_campaign=Coding+Brand&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4817912301&hsa_cam=18728606608&hsa_grp=148611102891&hsa_ad=631176868746&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-11285930&hsa_kw=medical%20coding&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqOucBhDrARIsAPCQL1bNdNeJGt4fjzR6Eu13nzYA5n6OF4mv3rkyA6Ila-u1a5PQhkNjvTEaApXREALw_wcB

https://aapcperfect.s3.amazonaws.com/a3c7c3fe-6fa1-4d67-8534-a3c9c8315fa0/6ab5cb07-7179-408a-a875-57a80fb200bd/508950d0-8164-4509-b106-e7cbf796314f.pdf

When I have participated in establishing this we looked at various organizations (MGMA, etc.) averages. We also had to take into account what the tasks of coders in our particular organization were. It is very dependent on what you are asking your coders to do on a daily basis. Some may be only fixing edits, while others may be "coding from scratch" meaning abstracting the entire chart. Are coders only doing E/M? Are they only doing surgeries? Are the reports and infor "fed" to them or do they have to go searching for it? Do different coders do different things, are they also working appeals and denials? All of this has to be taken into account. I can't expect a coder who is doing complex surgical coding to have the same production as someone who is just fixing E/Ms. There are so many variables depending on what type of practice and internal procedures in a practice.

MGMA is a good place to start. Specialty societies often have this in a revenue cycle management tab on their sites too. AHIMA has some info.

https://www.mgma.com/resources/financial-management/better-benchmarks-for-e-m-coding-comparisons

https://www.mgma.com/resources/revenue-cycle/the-importance-of-good-coding

https://www.mgma.com/events/using-kpis-and-benchmarks-to-reach-your-operationa

https://practice.asco.org/billing-coding-reporting/coding-reimbursement

https://bok.ahima.org/doc?oid=302649#.Y5sR-X3MKUk

https://www.aapc.com/blog/52376-10-tips-for-refining-your-coding-productivity-and-efficiency/#:~:text=Productivity%20is%20measured%20by%20how,plans%20issued%2C%20and%20so%20forth.

 

[jaxdoc]

It seems the benchmark for Inpatient coders is 2-3 charts per hour. What about those auditing Inpatient medical records, do you feel this is an appropriate benchmark? Our auditors are saying an average of 2 hours per medical record (average - some take 3 hours some take 1 hour) is required to validate a DRG for accuracy. We do not audit LOS > 60 days currently.