Job Description

This fully remote contract role supports Emergency Department operations for a large, multi-hospital health system by performing facility-side coding and charge capture. The position encompasses two distinct but closely related functions: ED Coding, which focuses primarily on diagnosis coding within Epic work queues, and ED Charge Capture, which focuses on CPT-based facility charging, injections and infusions, and ED bedside procedures. You will work in a high-volume, production-driven environment using Epic, 3M/Solventum, and Optum Lynx to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely coding and charging for Emergency Department encounters.

Responsibilities

• Work within centralized Epic work queues to support Emergency Department encounters across multiple hospital sites.
• For the ED Coder function, process assigned ED encounters through an Epic single-item work queue in priority order, typically starting with the oldest and highest-dollar accounts.
• Assign accurate ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes for Emergency Department encounters, following facility-specific coding guidelines and departmental standards.
• Perform limited procedure coding when ED patients undergo operating room or endoscopy procedures but are ultimately discharged from the Emergency Department, such as appendectomies or EGD procedures.
• Review and address medical necessity and CCI edits that appear during coding, researching the encounter as needed and documenting findings in Epic account activity notes when appropriate.
• Utilize 3M/Solventum computer-assisted coding with Code Confidence to support accurate and efficient diagnosis coding.
• Consistently meet established production and quality standards for ED coding, including a target of approximately 10 charts per hour and at least 95% total code accuracy.
• Maintain availability and responsiveness through Teams and email during working hours, proactively communicating questions, issues, or barriers to productivity.
• Adhere strictly to the defined scope of facility-side coding, avoiding professional/provider coding, ED facility leveling, injection and infusion charging, routine ED bedside procedure charge capture, observation charge capture, and downstream claim edits handled by other teams.
• For the ED Charge Capture function, work ED charge review queues within Epic across multiple sites, supporting separate queues based on patient disposition, including ED treat-and-release, ED-to-inpatient, and ED-to-observation.
• Review Emergency Department encounters to ensure that all appropriate facility charges have been captured accurately and completely.
• Review and validate ED facility levels, ensuring that levels are supported by documentation and applied consistently.
• Review and charge injections and infusions provided in the Emergency Department, using appropriate CPT coding and facility charging rules.
• Identify and code ED bedside procedures, including but not limited to incision and drainage, laceration repair, foreign-body removal, fracture reduction, splinting, nebulizer treatments, vaccine administration, intubation, and chest tube placement.
• Apply a clear understanding of distinctions such as simple, intermediate, and complex laceration repairs to prevent overcharging or undercharging.
• Use Optum Lynx for ED facility-level determination and injection/infusion calculation to ensure accurate facility charging.
• Use Epic Charge Navigator to capture and validate bedside procedure charges within the Emergency Department.
• Utilize a standalone 3M encoder and appropriate coding references as needed to support accurate CPT coding and charge capture.
• Review inpatient and observation encounters with attention to admit-order timing and the appropriate charging period, ensuring that facility charges align with the correct phase of care.
• Meet production and quality standards for ED charge capture, including a target of approximately 15 charts per hour for ED treat-and-release encounters and 10 charts per hour for inpatient and observation queues, while maintaining at least 95% accuracy.
• Remain accessible and responsive through Teams and email during scheduled hours, promptly communicating questions, issues, or unusual encounter scenarios.
• Work independently and efficiently in a high-volume, production-driven environment with minimal day-to-day supervision, while maintaining a strong focus on quality, accuracy, and compliance.
• Support a centralized Emergency Department revenue cycle workflow across multiple hospitals, adapting to standardized processes, documentation expectations, and performance metrics.

Essential Skills

• Minimum of 2 years of relevant Emergency Department experience, preferably in ED diagnosis coding or ED facility charge capture, depending on the assigned function.
• Demonstrated experience in Emergency Department coding or charge capture, including familiarity with ED workflows and documentation.
• Strong proficiency in ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding for facility-side Emergency Department encounters.
• Experience with CPT coding for Emergency Department services, particularly for injections, infusions, and bedside procedures, for candidates supporting the ED charge capture function.
• Prior ED charge capture or facility coding experience, with a strong preference for candidates who have worked directly with ED facility levels and ED bedside procedure charging.
• Understanding of facility-based Emergency Department charging principles and workflows.
• Experience working within Epic work queues, including navigating single-item queues and charge review queues.
• Ability to work independently in a high-volume, production-driven environment while consistently meeting defined productivity and accuracy metrics.
• Strong productivity orientation, with the ability to maintain targets such as 10 charts per hour for ED coding and 15 charts per hour for ED treat-and-release charge capture, as applicable.
• Strong quality and accuracy orientation, with the ability to meet or exceed 95% coding and charging accuracy standards.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document findings clearly in Epic and communicate questions or issues promptly.
• Ability to remain accessible and responsive via Teams and email during working hours.
• Comfort with being measured against defined productivity and accuracy metrics and operating within a structured performance framework.

Additional Skills and Qualifications

• Professional coding credentials such as CPC, COC, CCS, or CCS-P are strongly preferred and accepted for this role.
• CCA certification has been accepted previously and may be considered.
• Prior Emergency Department charge capture experience, particularly with injections and infusions, is especially valuable.
• Experience identifying and coding ED bedside procedures, including incision and drainage, laceration repair, foreign-body removal, fracture reduction, splinting, nebulizer treatments, vaccine administration, intubation, and chest tube placement.
• Experience with ED facility-level review and validation, including the use of tools such as Optum Lynx.
• Epic experience, particularly with ED coding and charge review queues, is preferred.
• Experience with Optum Lynx for ED facility-level and injection/infusion calculations is a plus.
• Familiarity with 3M or Solventum encoders and computer-assisted coding tools is helpful.
• Experience using Epic Charge Navigator for bedside procedure charging is beneficial.
• Demonstrated ability to work remotely in a self-directed manner without requiring significant day-to-day management.
• Strong attention to detail and analytical skills when reviewing medical necessity and CCI edits.
• Comfort working within a large, complex health system environment with standardized workflows and centralized operations.

Work Environment

This role is 100% remote and supports a centralized Emergency Department revenue cycle operation for a multi-hospital health system. Work is primarily performed during regular business hours aligned with Eastern Time, with a strong preference for a Monday-Friday day shift schedule such as 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Weekend work is not required, although consultants who prefer weekend hours may have some flexibility. The internal Emergency Department operation provides 365-day coverage, but consultants are not expected to cover the full schedule. You will work in a high-volume, production-driven environment that relies heavily on Epic for coding and charge review, including Epic work queues and Charge Navigator, supported by tools such as 3M/Solventum computer-assisted coding, standalone 3M encoders, and Optum Lynx for facility-level and injection/infusion calculations. Responsiveness via Teams and email during working hours is very important, and the environment is designed for professionals who are relatively self-sufficient and comfortable working with minimal day-to-day management while meeting defined productivity and quality metrics. Dress code is typical for a professional remote setting and is generally determined by personal preference unless participating in video meetings or client-facing interactions.

Top Skills Details

• Emergency Department
• Coding
• CCS

Additional Skills & Qualifications

Preferred/accepted credentials discussed: CPC, COC, CCS, CCS-P, CCA has been accepted previously, ED Charge Capture Candidates, Prior ED charge capture or facility coding experience strongly preferred, Injection and infusion experience is especially valuable, CPT coding knowledge, Experience identifying and coding ED bedside procedures, Understanding of facility-based ED charging, Epic experience preferred, Optum Lynx experience is a plus, 3M encoder experience is helpful, Strong productivity and quality orientation, Able to work independently in a high-volume environment, Strong communication skills, Must remain accessible through Teams/email during working hours, Must be comfortable being measured against defined productivity and accuracy metrics.