Wiki Medical Coder Daily Quotas

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marciar said:
Does anyone have information regarding expected daily quotas for coders. Thanks.
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I don't think there should be any expected daily quotas for coders. Every day is different. You could have days when you have very complex information to interpret and days when most of the notes are easy to review. What is important is that you are working diligently and correctly every single day. I once worked for an employer who had daily quotas. All this did was freak everyone out. They were always looking at the clock to see where they fit into the quota. Is this the correct way to work? Most of the employees left to find other jobs where this was not a requisite.
 
Coder Quotas

Thanks for your input. I feel the same way about setting quotas. My employer has not had any type of policy in place regarding coder quotas/accuracy. Since they have recently converted the method of physician compensation from money collected to RVUs, this has become an issue.
 
marciar said:
Thanks for your input. I feel the same way about setting quotas. My employer has not had any type of policy in place regarding coder quotas/accuracy. Since they have recently converted the method of physician compensation from money collected to RVUs, this has become an issue.
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Thats pretty sad that your employer doesn't care about at accuracy at least. If there are no quotas accuracy should be extremely high. Please tell me at least there is an audit program? If not get out while you can and hope the feds don't ever come a knocking.
 
Mine is currently 8/hour but it's more of a goal than something they really hold us to because as another poster said, every day is different. They're more strict when it comes to audits - passing is 95% - and they will pull people back in office if either becomes a continued issue...
 
Honestly I feel that having a productivity standard makes good sense. Without some type of expectation, there is the potential for employees to exploit the employer. If you had to work 8 hours without some expectation by the boss of daily productivity how can your value as an employee be measured? you need quality and quantity. Also with more than one employee you have the potential for one or two to bear the burden of the workload while others "skate". A productivity standard or quota, or goal; what ever you wish to call it, should not be a hard over number, just a measuring stick. It will vary according to the type of specialty and different providers method of documenting. In addition keep in mind that in some offices the providers do the coding and the coder only enters them. So there will be wide variances when you are collecting data. Just be reasonable, factor in how long it takes to read the note and how long it takes to look up the codes.
 
CodingKing said:
Thats pretty sad that your employer doesn't care about at accuracy at least. If there are no quotas accuracy should be extremely high. Please tell me at least there is an audit program? If not get out while you can and hope the feds don't ever come a knocking.
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I worked for a MAJOR hospital group in New Jersey that had a quota they wanted you to meet but didn't hold you "under the gun" with it. They expected 30 claims coded/day. This was because you were coding from scratch, completely building the claim. The company I work for now is COMPLETELY different. We are just to accept the codes the doctors enter themselves and send it out, only making sure that they aren't billing Consults for MCR pts, and the Dx codes are in order. My company, which is a small family-owned company, gets paid pennies for each claim so they are all about volume and not accuracy. We are expected to get out 250 claims a day. I have expressed my concern as I have done some audits and many providers are WAY over-coding, but it isn't the company's fault, actually. The Hospital group we code for will not allow us to lower code levels. Of course we can raise them, but NEVER lower them. We have to get the provider's permission to lower a code and you know they will never do that because they will lose RVUs. I am scared of this because if there is an audit, and insurance carriers start to catch on, I think we would be held responsible, and not the Financial Director who is extremely greedy and doesn't care what happens to a small business like us. I love where I work I just fear the worst will eventually happen to this great company. It's all about volume, not accuracy. They would rather the claim go out wrong and get denied, because we still get paid. It's sad, because I got into coding to make a difference, not to do something that, to me, is borderline fraud and abuse. I have thought about reporting the Hospital group, not the company I work for, as it really isn't their fault; they are bound by a contract and they feel the same way I do, but I don't know where to even do that AND if it is found out this business may go under and I would hate to see that happen. Catch 22, my friends. Catch 22.

I am currently studying to get my CCS and hopefully will have that license before things get noticed and will be able to get out before the poo hit the proverbial fan.
 
If I worked for someone who valued volume over accuracy, I would leave immediately.
In regards to the quota issue and the productivity standard mentioned in a previous reply, I still don't think this is necessary. A knowledgeable supervisor should be able to weed out the "skaters" from the ones who are working diligently and let the "skaters" go. A good employee just wants to do the job to best of her ability, and doesn't need these quota figures handing over her head. Just let her do her job.
 
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