Here is an except from a coder productivity report:
Performance Standards for Coding Professionals
By Rose T. Dunn, RRA, CPA, FACHE
TABLE 1:
Suggested Productivity Levels* for Coding Career Ladder
Coding Specialist I:
> 45 inpatient records** daily
2 min/chart or 250/day outpatient and ER records
3.5 min/chart or 130/day ambulatory surgery records
Coding Specialist II:
> 32 inpatient records** daily
2 min/chart or 250/day outpatient and ER records
4 min/chart or 120/day ambulatory surgery records
Coder II:
> 23 inpatient records** daily
3 min/chart or 160/day outpatient and ER records
6 min/chart or 80/day ambulatory surgery records
Coder I:
> 15 inpatient records** daily
4 min/chart or 120/day outpatient and ER records
8 min/chart or 60/day ambulatory surgery records
* For coding and light abstracting. Assumes an eight-hour day/40-hour week.
**Regardless of payer type and case complexity
(table/courtesy Rose Dunn)
TABLE 2:
Productivity Levels According to Other Sources
Productivity Level
3 to more than 10 inpatient
records/hour with the majority at 4-7 records per hour
Source
Medical Records Briefing, Where Do You Stand? A Collection of Benchmarking Articles, 7/98
10 to more than 31 outpatient records/hour with the majority at 11-20 records per hour
Medical Records Briefing, Where Do You Stand? A Collection of Benchmarking Articles, 7/98
20-60 inpatient records/day
36 Medicare records/day
46 non-Medicare records/day
53 ambulatory surgery cases/day
140-344 ER/outpatient tests/day
Journal of AHIMA, Productivity
Standards: A survey of HIM professionals, Part II, 6/96
