As the fiscal year-end loomed, a prominent southern healthcare provider faced a critical challenge; a growing backlog of medical charts and limited capacity across their existing staff creating disruptions to the accuracy of medical coding and timely submissions. With a pressing deadline, it became imperative to deploy an effective solution to optimize revenue and alleviate the organization’s financial burden. The organization weighed several options, including overtime for their current coding staff, outsourcing part of the coding process to a third-party vendor, or partnering with Medix for a tailored staffing solution.
About the Client
- A private, not-for-profit health system with a vast network of hospitals, ERs, specialty institutes, outpatient centers, medical pavilions, and urgent care centers
The Challenge
The impending fiscal year-end brought a sense of urgency to address the mounting medical coding queue. This backlog posed a significant challenge for the client on multiple fronts. First and foremost, it threatened to delay the timely processing of patient charges, potentially hindering revenue cycle efficiency and impacting the organization’s finances. Moreover, the urgent deadline necessitated a solution that could be implemented rapidly, making the normal onboarding processes a major obstacle. Providing overtime to existing staff had already been deployed in the interim but was elevating operational costs and adding stress on their existing team with little impact on the number of charts in the backlog. Additionally, outsourcing the entire coding process seemed like a viable option, however, the client had experienced mixed results with third-party vendors in the past, as they were unable to select the quality of coders working on their charts.
The Solution
The client partnered with Medix, a leading healthcare staffing firm with decades of revenue cycle experience, to implement a unique staffing solution. Based on Medix’s prior success in supplying quality contract-to-hire revenue cycle talent, the client knew it could rely on Medix for a collaborative approach in finding the right solution.
The client chose Medix for these reasons:
- Connection to quality, specialized talent
- Ability to staff talent quickly
- A longtime partner with an agile approach to best meet their urgent business needs
The Results
Significant reduction in the medical coding queue: from over 4,000 charges to just a few hundred in less than 2 months by deploying a special project team of 7 coders
- Personalized Approach: Medix worked closely with the client to develop a customized screening and onboarding process that expedited the hiring of qualified coders, reducing the lengthy onboarding process from three weeks down to only five days and enabled the client’s ability to hand select which talent would be placed on this project.
- Increased Efficiency: The positive effects extended beyond the initial project scope. The enhanced efficiency gained through the partnership enabled the coding team to address other backlogged queues, further streamlining their overall coding operations.
- Talent Satisfaction: The initiative not only amplified operational efficiency but also granted the client the chance to directly evaluate the performance of multiple coders. Impressed by the demonstrated talent, the client presented a full-time position to one of the Medix team members.
“I’ve been with the organization for 10 years, and that queue has never been that low. The closest we ever saw was about 2 to 3,000 more than what we were able to get it to with this project.” – HIM Director
Are you facing a backlog in medical coding or other revenue cycle functions? Learn how Medix can help you find the talent you need to streamline your operations and improve your bottom line. Contact us today.
