Medical Coding Associate

Role summary: Drive coding accuracy and support revenue cycle efficiency as a Medical Coding Associate in Chennai, India (Hybrid). In this role, you will code across E/M outpatient and inpatient, neuro coding, denial coding, and surgery coding, applying medical coding guidelines to ensure correct documentation-to-code mapping. You will report to the Medical Coding Manager.

Team summary:
Job Description
The Medical Coding Associate supports effective and efficient operations by strengthening key areas of information flow and management, business process execution, and enhanced management reporting. This role applies multi-specialty medical coding knowledge to ensure consistent coding quality and help maintain strong operational outcomes. You will support operational performance by following established coding standards, performing discrepancy review, and partnering with internal teams to improve coding consistency, reduce rework, and strengthen reporting integrity. The role also supports root cause analysis to identify coding drivers behind recurring errors and to help implement practical improvements.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Code medical records accurately using applicable coding guidelines across E/M outpatient, E/M inpatient, neuro, surgery, and denial coding assignments.
• Validate documentation support for diagnosis and procedure selections to ensure coding correctness.
• Review coded outputs for quality and consistency with internal standards and established references.
• Research coding discrepancies by comparing documentation, coding rules, and relevant guideline sources.
• Identify denial-related coding issues and support appropriate correction pathways to reduce preventable rework.
• Document coding decisions and discrepancy notes in required systems to ensure traceability.
• Support reporting accuracy by ensuring coded data aligns with operational and analytics requirements.
• Conduct root cause analysis for recurring coding errors and recommend targeted improvements.
• Use AI-enabled support to improve productivity by using AI-assisted suggestions (when available) to speed up case summarization and highlight potential guideline-relevant details—then applying human coding judgment to confirm correctness and document decisions.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Assist with quality calibration and coding standard alignment activities.
• Participate in training and knowledge-sharing on common discrepancy patterns and guideline clarifications.
• Support internal audit readiness by ensuring coding evidence and notes are complete.
• Help maintain coding references and updates to ensure consistent application of standards.
• Contribute to operational reporting inputs by summarizing key learnings from coding trends.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to resolve coding-related workflow questions.
• Support special projects or process improvement initiatives as assigned.

Expected Education & Experience

• 6–8 years of experience in medical coding and revenue cycle coding workflows.
• Demonstrated experience coding E/M outpatient and E/M inpatient.
• Demonstrated experience with neuro coding and surgery coding.
• Experience with denial coding or denial-related coding correction workflows.
• Strong knowledge of coding guidelines and documentation requirements to support accurate coding.
• Ability to perform root cause analysis for recurring coding issues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for documenting findings and collaborating with stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively in a hybrid environment based in Chennai, India.

Travel: NA % travel annually.