# remote pay rates



## doggieluv (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi, 
I have been quoted 75 cent per chart for ED profee E/M. This includes Dx, CPT & E/M. I am told that all of their coders can do 20 charts per hour. Facility coding is $1.40 per chart.  These rates seem very low. Can anyone comment on the rates or any experience you have had with this company?


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## jimbo1231 (Jan 19, 2011)

*Good Company*

Laura,

Nicka and Ass. is a reputable company and has been around a long time. Sharon Nicka is a long time ED coding expert.
The pay and production requirments seem OK to me. ED fees have been driven down by competition particularly off shore. I paid more when I was in the business a decade ago...around 1.25. But I could get more per chart than most companies can get these days Did they ask you to take a coding test?
I find the keys to production these days are system speed and user friendliness, and how much data entry they are looking for. So if you can code without too much additional data entry into a reasonable, efficient system you should be able to hit or exceed the 20 oer hour.(and of course the documentation is decent which I think is the case with many EDs that use the T-System)

Jim S


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## doggieluv (Jan 19, 2011)

Jim,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I did take the test for ED, facility, profee & Urgent Care & passed. They seem to have a good training program & be well organized. Having said that, they still require some entry of codes onto an Excel spreadsheet which I find time consuming. I think you are absolutely right in that the platforms used for check off or data entry of codes has a lot to do with the abilty to code 20 charts an hour. I've been doing facility coding for the ED with much infusion coding & most of us could only do 9 charts an hour (inclusive of DX & a data entry of codes on a ck off computer chargeslip). 

Any thoughts or references on how to code E/M quicker? In the past I have used the Medicare E/M worksheet. Do remote coders who have to code a lot per hour in order to make a living use this tool? I want to get into remote coding & I know my stuff but being the perfectionist that I am, need tips on how to code quicker.


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## jimbo1231 (Jan 20, 2011)

*Remote*

Laura,

I agree about the facility side. The infusion/hydration stuff is a time consuming challenge due to inconsistent and illegible documentation. That is a big mess in many hospitals.
Are you also doing facility Levelling? I have an article about it in January Coding Edge and Part 2 is coming.
I think you will gain speed on the physician side as you code. The approach many ED coding/billing companies take these days is following the 95 guidelines where they have to (Medicare and other payers who follow them) and CPT guidelines for other payers and Self Pay. This means less counting for non government payers. But you have to be certain the payer you are coding. So I don't think it helps with production as much as it allows a few higher codes. And there are some who question this approach.
There are some tools out there that can help. If you want to contact me at straffcon@aol.com I'd be happy to discuss.

Jim S.


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## marcy (Nov 22, 2015)

*Remote Codind*



jimbo1231 said:


> Laura,
> 
> I agree about the facility side. The infusion/hydration stuff is a time consuming challenge due to inconsistent and illegible documentation. That is a big mess in many hospitals.
> Are you also doing facility Levelling? I have an article about it in January Coding Edge and Part 2 is coming.
> ...



Aloha Jim!

I currently work for the DoD as a Emergency Room Coder Facility Base I would like to work part-time as a Remote ER Coder but seem to have problems passing their exams.  I use 1995 Guidelines!  Any helpful resources!  

Thanks ~ Marcy


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## jimbo1231 (Nov 23, 2015)

*Resources*

The workbook with the CEDC course is OK. Also American College of Emergency Medicine has an annual Coding/Reimbursement conference. This year it's on NO in January. A bit pricy. But they have a 1 day beginner module that's pretty good and reasonable. Of course you have to get to NO!

Jim S.


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