Question

As the HIM manager, you have several teams that report to you, including; coding, release of information, and scanning. Below you will find some information on each team based on recent audits. Research and locate AHIMA’s productivity benchmarking standards to assist in completing the assignment.

A productivity and accuracy audit recently occurred of the five coders that report to you. Below are the results of the study:

	Productivity	Accuracy Rate
Coder One	45 charts in 8 hours	75%
Coder Two	24 charts in 8 hours	98%
Coder Three	30 charts in 8 hours	98%
Coder Four	50 charts in 8 hours	60 %
Coder Five	10 charts in 8 hours	97%

Your department currently receives on the average 300 charts per day. Your facility compliance guidelines state that coders should maintain at least a 95% accuracy rate. Using the audit results, AHIMA’s benchmarking standard, and compliance guidelines, develop feedback for each of the coders.

Your feedback to each coder should be positive and comprehensive. Feedback must address at least productivity, accuracy, and suggestions for improvement. During this process, the department director has asked you to evaluate if you have enough staff to maintain the workload and to make recommendations for a change in staffing if necessary. Develop a proposal for staffing change if necessary.

Answer 1

Productivity = 300*8/24 = 100 charts in 8 hours

Average coder productivity =100/5 = 20 charts in 8 hours

Coder One

Productivity errors amount to 20%. The productivity rate is quite sustainable with 45 charts in 8 hours. However, the accuracy rate shows room for further improvements involving changes greater than one level.

Coder Two

The accuracy rate is within the compliance guidelines. Productivity on the other hand is quite low but still within the standards. The process is sustainable but slight reduction in the accuracy level may allow other resources to be focused upon raising the productivity.

Coder Three

Both the productivity and the accuracy rate are above the compliance regulations. Documentation and implementation of the set procedures may allow for continued production consistency in terms of numbers and consistency.

Coder Four

The productivity rate is quite high and suitable for a production process. However, increased allocation of resources and focus on numbers rather than quality has led to low accuracy rates achieved. The accuracy rate in this category is way below the required level. More resources should therefore be allocated to improving the accuracy rate while reducing those allocated for productivity.

Coder Five

The accuracy rate agrees with the compliance requirements. The productivity however, is below the established average production from each section. This implies that more training should be incorporated in the production process thereby allowing the productivity levels to be increased.

Average coder productivity = (45+24+30+50+10)/5=31.9 charts

Average coder accuracy = (75+98+98+60+97)/5=85.6%

The current staff is adequate since each section performs well in any of the sections. Measures could be taken to improve their overall productivity. This would involve conducting process walk-through to uncover opportunities for improvements, taking advantage of unused system functionality, employee training, and rewarding their success.