Do you ever find yourself saying this? Our customers do. We are in constant contact with our customers to make sure KIWI-TEK has what they need, when they need it, and how they need it. . Whether in one-on-one conversations or surveys, we gather feedback on what revenue and HIM leaders need from their coding partner.
One of the biggest emerging “must haves” our partners put at the top of their coding list recently is fast onboarding, or coding on demand. As HIM leaders face much more unpredictable swings in patient volumes, it is a challenge to know when a huge backlog is around the corner. We know from experience they absolutely don’t have time to wait for coders to become available. They need a coder yesterday. And they need a partner who can fulfill the request stat.
Before COVID-19 our industry was used to manageable coding fluctuations, but last year put KIWI-TEK’s strategy of providing flexible coding resources to the test. We have found that overstaffing our clients’ needs by at least 20% has always provided the needed flexibility. We also have extensive experience with every type of revenue cycle application, which minimizes any delays for training and speeds up the onboarding process.
Case in point, according to one of our coding partners:
“KIWI is able to quickly bring on additional resources. Penn State could have never brought coders on and housed them in the time frame needed. Even though coding was behind, KIWI helped significantly, understanding that it’s not forever.” Matt Hogue | Director of Revenue Integrity, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Selecting a coding partner that can supply the coding support you need is a critical decision. While there are many factors in choosing a vendor, here are a few others our customers put at the top of their list.
How you need it. Supplying the expertise you need and onboarding it quickly is only effective if those resources understand how to operate within your existing workflow. We always document and follow your guidelines, processes, and procedures to ensure everyone is on the same page. Our team can then meet your expectations regarding systems, operations, data integrity, security, and overall goals.
As one of our clients said, “I haven’t worked with any vendor in any arena and had this type of partnership. CDI, IT, reporting, revenue cycle—continual, consistent communication and quality has not been there like it is with KIWI-TEK.”
Accountability
You need a coding partner that meets or exceeds the same quality and productivity expectations set for your internal staff. KIWI-TEK’s coding teams consistently deliver high-quality results at a reasonable price, which our clients recognize and appreciate.
“The biggest thing that stood out about KIWI-TEK was their pricing. Price was very important when looking for coding vendors and it still is. KIWI-TEK rates beat other vendors most of the time.” Lorie B Mills, RHIT, CCS, AHIMA Approved I10 Trainer | System Director of Coding and CDI, Forrest General Hospital
Scalable Expertise
We know that to fully support our customers’ changing needs, a wide range of specialty coding knowledge and experience is required. That is why KIWI-TEK employs coding experts for every specialty and type of patient encounter. You can see a summary of the breadth of our top-notch team in this infographic >>.
Traditionally, patient volume was predictable and rarely fluctuated, making it easy to design a coding team to manage the chart flow. But the HIM universe has changed. Download our ebook for four tips on how to prepare for an unpredictable future.
If managing your patient volume or filling coder vacancies is a challenge for your HIM team, please contact us to learn how a KIWI-TEK coding partnership can help.
