Clinical Document Specialist, Clinical Documentation Management

Job Summary:
The Clinical Document Specialist is responsible for ensuring accurate and compliant physician documentation in the electronic medical record. When Physician Documentation is accurate and compliant, it increases reimbursement, improves quality outcomes and allows for disease tracking/trending.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Must be a graduate from an accredited school of nursing
• Must read, write, and speak English
• Must be able to work fully onsite
• Prior experience in clinical documentation review preferred as well as an understanding of ICD-9-CM coding requirements
• Passing grade on JATA clinical test
• 2 years+ acute hospital experience as a clinical nurse (ED, Critical Care, Telemetry, or Stepdown)
• Successful completion of site personnel general orientation
• Successful completion of department specific orientation

Preferred:

• Supervisory experience (in any discipline)
• High level clinical nurse experience

Certifications and Licenses Required:

• Current Registered Nurse License in the state of New Jersey
• CDS certification desired
• Basic Life Support (BLS) from the American Heart Association

Scheduling Requirements:

• Full Time
• Day shift
• Monday - Friday
• No Holidays
• Hours 7a-3p / 7:30a - 3:30p / 8a-4p
• 37.5 hrs weekly

Essential Functions:
The Clinical Documentation Specialist (CDS) responsibilities include assisting in clarifying documentation regarding the patient's diagnoses and/or procedures, co-morbid conditions, complications, and other reportable data elements. Clarifications will be completed by utilizing computer software to generate the clarification. A clarification is defined as a question posed to a physician to obtain additional documentation to improve the specificity and completeness of the chart documentation elements used to assign diagnosis and procedure codes or other reportable data elements within the health record.

A physician clarification is recommended when an inpatient medical record has incomplete, inconsistent, unclear, ambiguous or conflicting documentation.

Clarifications should be written in the following situations:
• Clinical indicators of a diagnosis are present, but there is no documentation of the condition
• Will offer multiple choices within the clarification
• Clinical indicators or evidence for a higher degree of specificity or severity (SOI; ROM)
• A cause-and-effect relationship between two conditions not documented
• The underlying cause when admitted with only symptoms
• A treatment is documented without a diagnosis documented
• Present on admission (POA) indicator status is not well-defined
• Acuity of conditions (acute, chronic, acute on chronic)
• Conflicting documentation between the attending physician and other healthcare providers

The physician clarification will:
• Not lead the physician to a particular, desired response or introduce any new information
• Be clearly and concisely written - contain precise language as directed by "J A Thomas - The Guide."
• Present facts from the medical record and identify why the clarification is needed
• Capture Severity of Illness (SOI) and Risk of Mortality (ROM)
• Present multiple options
• Utilize a 360 degree approach including: clinical indicators; treatment; and risk factors

All questions posed to the provider will be based on clinical indicators, risk factors, and treatment/management to ensure compliance and consistency of policy and process. All physician clarification responses must be documented in a primary source of documentation. Sources of documentation are: the face sheet, H and P, consultation notes, progress notes, and discharge summary.

Other Duties:
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Benefits and Perks:
At RWJBarnabas Health, our market-competitive Total Rewards package provides comprehensive benefits and resources to support our employees' physical, emotional, social, and financial health.

• Paid Time Off (PTO) Medical and Prescription Drug Insurance
• Dental and Vision Insurance
• Retirement Plans
• Short & Long Term Disability
• Life & Accidental Death Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Health Care/Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Wellness Programs
• Voluntary Benefits (e.g., Pet Insurance)
• Discounts through our Partners such as NJ Devils, NJ PAC, Verizon, and more!

Choosing RWJBarnabas Health!

RWJBarnabas Health is the premier health care destination providing patient-centered, high-quality academic medicine in a compassionate and equitable manner, while delivering a best-in-class work experience to every member of the team. We honor and appreciate the privilege of creating and sustaining healthier communities, one person and one community at a time. As the leading academic health system in New Jersey, we advance innovative strategies in high-quality patient care, education, and research to address both the clinical and social determinants of health.

RWJBarnabas Health aims to truly make a unique impact in local communities throughout New Jersey. From vastly improving the health of local residents to creating educational and career opportunities, this combination greatly benefits the state. We understand the growing and evolving needs of residents in New Jersey-whether that be enhancing the coordination for treating complex health conditions or improving community health through local programs and education.

Equal Opportunity Employer