Medical Records Administrator (Chief (CHIM))

This position is in the Health Administration Service (HAS) at the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System. This assignment serves as the Chief of Health Information Management (CHIM), which is the highest professional position at the facility, with responsibility for the management and direction of the health information management program.

Qualifications:

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education or Experience:
  • Experience. Three years of creditable experience in the field of medical records that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of [health] records and health information systems [demonstrating a knowledge of medical terminology,] medical records [procedures, medical coding, or medical, administrative, and legal requirements of health care delivery] systems. OR
  • Education. Successful completion of a bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university [recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, with a major field of study in health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information management or health information technology.] OR
  • Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of [creditable] experience and education that equals 100 percent may be used to meet basic requirements. [For example, two years above high school from an accredited college or university, with 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management, plus one year and six months of creditable experience that included the preparation, maintenance, and management of health records and health information systems meets an equivalent combination.

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 and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the??????? following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Assignments. This assignment serves as the CHIM, which] is the highest-level professional position at the facility, with responsibility for the management and direction of the health information management program.

Medical Records Administrator (Chief (CHIM)),] GS-12

• Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) that demonstrates the KSAs described at that level. AND
• Certification. Employees at this level MUST have a HIM Certification.
  • Health Information Management (HIM) Certification. Higher-level health information management certification is limited to certification obtained through AHIMA. To be acceptable for qualifications, the specific certification must represent a comprehensive competency in the occupation. Certification titles may change and certifications that meet the definition of HIM certification may be added/removed by the above certifying body; however, current HIM certifications include Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) and Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA). AND
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
  • Ability to [determine] and [evaluate compliance] with [legal, ethical, and regulatory guidelines] and [accrediting bodies, as they apply to health information] management.
  • Skill in [evaluating,] developing [and implementing] new policies [,] procedures, [and] programs.
  • Ability] to [provide] program [oversight, including advisory and technical expertise on a range of health information management practices and guidelines to staff at various levels.
  • Ability to develop and conduct training on health information management programs, policies, procedures, and performance improvement activities.
  • Ability to effectively procure and manage HIM resources (i.e. space, staffing, education, budget, etc.).
  • Ability] to provide the full range of supervisory duties [to] include assignment of work; completing performance evaluations; selection of staff; and recommendation of awards, advancements, and [ ] disciplinary actions.
  • Customer service skills necessary to effectively communicate (written and verbal) and interact with all levels of hospital personnel, physicians, patients, and outside agencies.
  • Ability to deal effectively with sensitive and/or complex situations.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is gs-12.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

Responsibilities:

Duties include but not limited to the following:

• Serves as Chief of Health Information Management (CHIM) with full program responsibility for all facets of the Health Information Management (HIM) program and processes.
• Must ensure the HIM program complies with all national HIM policies and procedures and meets or exceeds national HIM performance metrics.
• Responsible for the administrative management of health records, which includes planning, managing, advising and directing the HIM program in accordance with applicable Federal Laws, facility by-laws, VHA policy (which includes directive, handbooks, program guides, fact sheets and practice briefs), the Joint Commission (TJC) standards, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and other regulatory and accrediting agency standards.
• Creates and monitors systems to ensure accurate, timely and complete health records, in accordance with VHA policy and TJC health information protocols.
• Responsible for all aspects of health records management for the facility ensuring maintenance of complete, accurate, timely, clinically pertinent, and readily accessible patient health records, which contain sufficient recorded information to serve as a basis to plan patient care, support diagnoses, warrant treatment, measure outcomes, support education and facilitate performance improvement processes and legal requirements.
• Develop policies, processes and procedures that address all VHA, Federal, regulatory, and accrediting requirements for HIM.
• Provides detailed technical expertise in health records science and other very technical aspects of HIM.
• Maintains all health information entered into local databases and assures timely transmission of that data into all VA centralized databases - most frequently those maintained at the Austin Data Processing Center.
• Serves as a key advisor to the Chief of Staff, Executive Management, clinical and administrative staff and is responsible for providing technical guidance on health information issues such as documentation requirements, encounter completion, industry and federal regulatory compliance, advance directives, informed consent, clinical documentation integrity, medical coding, release of information, transcription/speech recognition, scanning and indexing, health information exchange, etc.
• The CHIM at this level has the full complement of HIM supervisory responsibility including medical coding, clinical documentation integrity, record completion, file room, scanning and indexing, release of information, and transcription/speech recognition and which consists of a mixture of Hybrid Title 38 and Title 5 positions.
• Incumbent is responsible for directing the operations of all personnel working within the HIM program and is regularly involved in labor relations and budget management.
• Performs administrative and personnel management functions relative to staff supervised.
• Responsible for maintenance and evaluation of health records and assuring legal requirements for care are met.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am to 4:00pm
Telework: Ad Hoc Emergency Telework MAY BE Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $89,508