Tips for Meeting Medical Coding Productivity Standards

Medical coding productivity standards require more than speed — they require smart, consistent workflows that protect accuracy while keeping records moving. This blog shares practical strategies for inpatient and outpatient coders to meet productivity expectations, including mindset shifts, efficient record review habits, time blocking, organized resource management, and faster physician query practices. Whether you are coding for a hospital, healthcare system, or remote coding team, these tips can help you improve output, reduce time traps, and maintain compliant coding performance.

Successful medical coding is a delicate balance between accuracy and productivity and due to their importance there are standards for their assessment. Although many coders have personalities that tend to prioritize accuracy and they might not like to hear this, sometimes productivity is more important than accuracy. Effective coders understand that sometimes it’s necessary to loosen the grip on accuracy in order to meet productivity, if accuracy is still meeting standards. However, finding the sweet spot between meeting productivity and maintaining accuracy can be difficult. This Coding Tip offers some philosophies and practical suggestions whose application can improve productivity.

Managing Your Mindset

Meeting productivity standards is often a manifestation of mind over matter. Having the right mindset about productivity is the solid foundation needed for practical applications to build on.

Understand the Expectations

Understanding and working under the following expectations about accuracy can help foster a more realistic perspective of accuracy vs. productivity.

• An expectation of 100% accuracy may not be realistic when there are productivity standards to meet. It's not abnormal, unusual or unexpected to miss some minor codes to maintain productivity.
• Missed codes are generally found by auditors or AI systems. However:
  • Auditors are not working with the same productivity standards. They have more time to look at the record and find every single code. This means the playing field is not level, so comparing their results to your own is not a completely fair comparison.
  • AI uses data mining and algorithms to select records for review that are most likely to have a DRG change. The system has an electronic advantage, which again is not a fair comparison.

Determining when Enough is Enough

You would be surprised how quickly time flies when you are chasing down a rabbit hole that doesn't matter in the end. At some point you have to decide you are done working on a record because further review will not yield any meaningful results. To help you determine when you’ve reached that point keep these thoughts in mind:

• One review of the record usually gives you the DRG and most reportable diagnoses and procedures, unless a query is needed. Any extra review for other codes is not likely to change the DRG or move the needle on accuracy, so continued review for additional codes may not be a wise use of your time.
• There is no return on investment for time spent looking for obscure codes to get 100% accuracy when that will make your productivity 50%.
• Set a realistic amount of time for completing records by type or length of stay and once you have met that time, if you are confident your coding will produce the correct DRG, finalize the record and move on.

Practical Applications

Once you’re thinking strategically about productivity, putting practical suggestions into play will generate measurable changes. How a coder manages their workflow, their review of the record and posing physician queries can all have an impact, negative or positive, on their productivity.

Manage Your Review of the Record

Since the majority of a coder’s day will be spent reviewing records for code assignment, mastering the review process and making it work for you, is critical for productivity as well as accuracy.

• The order in which a record is reviewed is a matter of coder preference and doesn’t really make a difference as long as the process is consistent. Following the same processes of review with every record prevents your brain from having to think through what comes next. Having a clear process used consistently builds speed and saves time.
• Consider using paper or a word doc to keep track of questions and to take notes of where to find critical information so you do not have to spend time reviewing the record again to find small details.

Manage Your Workflow

Controlling your time can sometimes feel like trying to hold a tiger by the tail. However, managing your workflow leads to better management of your time overall, which in turn should lead to increased productivity. Some keys to managing your workflow include:

• Keep your tools and resources organized. This saves time from having to look for information. Consider making a file with frequently referenced guidelines, coding advice or supplemental resources so everything can be resourced from one point of access.
• Divide your work into time blocks. This practice is similar to the idea of using a consistent process for record review, but for your entire workday and not just a single record. Creating a time for everything and then completing specific tasks during their allotted time allows your brain to focus on one thing only for an extended period of time. This prevents loss of productivity from constantly switching tasks. It will be tempting to check your email or work on other things that feels pressing during blocks of time scheduled for something else, but making those things wait until it’s their time to get your full attention will yield better results for your workday as a whole.

Time Blocking – Sample Workday

• Time blocking is a proven productivity strategy. There are many online resources that discuss time blocking, such as Time Blocking: How to Master Your Schedule & Stay Productive. These could be consulted to help you develop a daily schedule that suits your needs and taste.

Query Efficiently

Posing queries to physicians can be time consuming. Cut down on the time required to get a query posed by employing these practices:

• Use templates. Using templates is much faster and more efficient than creating a new query every time you need one. Even using a basic template that can be customized based on the details of the current encounter is better than starting from scratch. Most organizations will have their own templates and some will require their use. If those templates do not suit your needs, and using other templates is permissible, you can find templates from other sources such as AHIMA/ACDIS or you could also create your own templates.
• Build your query data as you review the record. If you know you will need to pose a query, note clinical indicators and other important details and their location as you review the record so you don’t have to go back and search for the information a second time.

Conclusion

Productivity and accuracy are of equal importance; therefore, productivity should not take a back seat to the quest for perfection. Managing the balance between the two is the responsibility of every coding professional. Being organized and efficient with your resources and time helps you control review of the records rather than letting record review control you and your time, In turn, having better control of your time makes it easier to meet productivity standards.

References

• Time Blocking: How to Master Your Schedule & Stay Productive
• https://acdis.org/resources/guidelines-achieving-compliant-query-practice%E2%80%942022-update

FAQ

Since 1992, HIA has been the leading provider of compliance audits, coding support services and clinical documentation audit services for hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, physician groups and other healthcare entities. HIA offers PRN support as well as total outsource support.

The information contained in this coding advice is valid at the time of posting. Viewers are encouraged to research subsequent official guidance in the areas associated with the topic as they can change rapidly.