BENCHMARKS: Coder productivity in records coded per day

This brief article from the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) contains recommendations for the productivity of medical records coders in terms of records per hour, records per day, and time per record for the following four types of records:

• Inpatient – the most time consuming – (24 records/day; 3 records per hour; 20 minutes per record)
• Ambulatory, outpatient, and interventional surgery and procedures
• Emergency department
• Ancillary testing

What I like about this article:  It comes from an authoritative source and it contains quantified best practice standards for coder productivity.

Source: DeVault, K.  (2012, July). Best practices for coding productivity: Assessing productivity in ICD-9 to prepare for ICD-10.  Journal of AHIMA, 83(7), 72-74. Retrieved from http://www.ahimajournal-digital.com/ahimajournal/201207?pg=75#pg75  Posted by AHA Resource Center, (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org

OF RELATED INTEREST: 2009 survey of coder productivity

Here are results of a survey of hospitals conducted in April 2009 by HCPro, a publisher.  Responses were received from 215 readers in varied (mostly hospital) settings.

• 29 percent reported 3 inpatient records coded per hour (this was the most frequently reported response)
• 14 percent reported 3.5 to 3.75 inpatient records coded per hour (this was the second most frequently reported response)

Source: HCPro (2009). Coder productivity benchmarks: A special report. Retrieved from http://www.hcpro.com/content/238552.pdf