Lead Clinical Data Specialist

Exciting Opportunity  

Join Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as a Lead Clinical Data Specialist and help advance accurate, compliant clinical coding across Radiology. In this high-impact role, you will combine deep coding expertise, data quality leadership, team mentorship, and systems collaboration to strengthen reimbursement, reporting, research, and operational excellence across MSK enterprise-wide initiatives.   

Role Overview  

• Review inpatient and outpatient encounters and assign accurate ICD-10-CM and CPT-4 codes in accordance with established coding principles, departmental policies, and Medicare requirements  

• Analyze medical records, diagnoses, procedures, complications, and treatment details to capture complete and appropriately specific clinical data.   

• Identify and correct improper codes to support medical and legal accuracy, regulatory reporting, appropriate reimbursement, research, planning, and statistical analysis.  

• Investigate coding inconsistencies, inaccuracies, omissions, billing rejections, and denials, providing supporting documentation and follow-up as needed.  

• Partner with HIM leadership, physicians, Revenue Integrity, Patient Billing, and Radiology leadership to resolve documentation and coding issues.   

• Lead, train, and mentor Clinical Data Specialists, review their work and explain coding rationales to strengthen quality and productivity.   

• Serve as a primary administrator for CodeAssist, collaborate with 3M CEE, submit technical tickets, and assist with system testing, coding-rule adjustments, and connection issues.   

• Collaborate with areas such as Nuclear Medicine, General Radiology, Interventional Radiology and Breast modalities to improve coding and documentation.   

• Support advanced special projects, including charge master maintenance, charge mapping, fee coordination, coding updates, rejection correction, and year-end code changes.   

Key Qualifications  

• High school diploma or GED required.   

• Four to seven years of professional coding experience required. Radiology coding preferred.  

• Current certified coding credential required, e.g., CPC, CCS, CCS-P  

• Advanced knowledge of ICD-10-CM and CPT-4 coding guidelines, with the ability to apply codes at the level of specificity required for compliant billing and reporting.   

• Experience reviewing inpatient and outpatient encounters, Radiology medical records, billing rejections, coding edits, and clinical documentation preferred.   

• Proficiency using coding, clinical, billing, and reporting systems, including Excel. Experience with Epic, HIS, CodeAssist or comparable platforms is highly relevant.   

Core Skills  

• Expert judgment and attention to detail: Consistently interprets complex clinical information and produces accurate, compliant coding without compromising productivity.   

• Leadership and mentorship: Guides coders through constructive review, practical training, and clear explanations of coding decisions.   

• Analytical problem-solving: Recognizes recurring errors, investigates root causes, and recommends systematic improvements that strengthen quality and reimbursement outcomes.   

• Collaboration and communication: Builds effective working relationships with HIM leadership, physicians, , , Revenue Integrity, Patient Billing, technical teams, and clinical departments.   

• Accountability and continuous learning: Meets established quality and productivity standards, maintains accurate reporting, and shares knowledge gained through advanced coding education.   

Additional Information:   

• Schedule: 8 Flexed hours starting at 7am. During training: 8am to 4pm Mondays through Fridays.   

• Work type: Remote   

• Reports to: Manager II, Health Information Management  

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