Scaling Medical Coding Excellence for One of Midwest’s Largest Health Systems
Client Profile:
One of Midwest’s largest non-profit healthcare systems, operating 21 acute care facilities with 5,000 licensed beds, over 300 outpatient locations, and employing more than 12,000 providers. With over 60,000 employees, it leads the state in inpatient admissions and net patient revenue.
Challenge:
- Fragmented coding operations with multiple vendors and in-house teams, leading to inefficiencies
- Initial hesitancy from the leadership regarding the use of India-based coding support
- The need for a compliant, scalable coding partner to support growth while maintaining accuracy and efficiency
Approach:
IKS Health partnered with the client to set staffing expectations, adding 2-3 coders per week until fully staffed within a few months. The support covered inpatient, same-day surgery, observations, emergency department, and professional fee coding. Within approximately four months, IKS Health also successfully eliminated a large professional fee coding backlog. To reduce costs, IKS Health doubled the coders and implemented a global coding solution while maintaining quality and productivity.
- Built trust with leadership through consistent communication, performance updates, and transparency, which reinforced confidence in our global model
- Executed a structured hiring, training, and onboarding process to seamlessly integrate 65 new coders for full outsourced coverage
- Maintained strong relationships with key stakeholders through a dedicated IKS leadership team, ensuring long-term engagement and continued expansion
- Transitioned from a supplemental coding vendor to a trusted coding partner, culminating in full outsourcing of emergency department and multispecialty provider coding
Results:
- Operational Efficiency: Improved coding turnaround time to 24-48 hours, compared to the industry standard of three to five days
- Cost Optimization: Reduced their monthly coding support spend by 65% through a global implementation model with domestic oversight
- Vendor Consolidation: Replaced fragmented vendor reliance with a unified, streamlined coding process, enhancing operational efficiency
To learn more about IKS Health Medical Coding Solutions, contact us today at info@ikshealth.com.
