You are in the midst of preparing the departmental budget for the year. The next portion of the budget is the coding staff development budget. You currently have five coders in your department.

In a word document prepare the following:

1. A staff development plan for the coding staff for the coming year.

2. A budget for staff development.

First step of this assignment is to assess the needs of your staff:

What resources will go for staying current with the new code changes, rules and guidelines?

What continuing education will keep staff current on the latest procedures and techniques done within your facility that may impact coding?

What resources will go training based on the feedback from the last peer-to-peer audit and also the last external audit.

What professional development do your coders need or want in the areas of topics like HIM, electronic health records, general computer skills, or supervisory or interpersonal skills.

Develop a prioritized list of what training is needed for your coding staff. Look at the training opportunities that may be available at low cost or no cost. D. Also consider the amount of time the coders will be away from their production responsibilities while attending these training events. Will your accounts receivable be impacted if all the coders are out at a two-day conference? Will you have to replace their productivity with temporary staff?

Analyze which area/areas have variances and their proposals for correcting this in the future.

Along with each variance calculation, prepare a brief report justifying why there may be a variance.