Coding Manager / HIM Coding Leader

$80/hrrate as listed

Review AI-generated ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT/HCPCS, and DRG assignments the way you would audit a coder's work, then write structured rationales that feed model training. Mercor is staffing this for an AI research lab; observed pay is around $80/hr on a contract, hours-flexible basis.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

What the work involves

You receive coding scenarios — operative notes, discharge summaries, office visit documentation, sometimes full inpatient encounters — alongside an AI system's proposed code assignment. Your job is to judge whether the assignment is defensible under Official Coding Guidelines, and to explain why in writing that a model can learn from. That means naming the specific guideline, coding clinic reference, or payer rule that governs the decision, not just marking an answer wrong.

Typical tasks include: auditing profee E/M leveling and modifier use, checking principal diagnosis selection and MS-DRG assignment, flagging unsupported code capture or missed CC/MCC opportunities, comparing two AI outputs and ranking them, and writing corrected assignments with rationale. Some projects ask you to author new test cases from de-identified documentation patterns you know cause coders to stumble.

What the screen looks for

Credential and depth verification. CCS, CPC, RHIA, or RHIT plus a leadership record; expect follow-ups that go past the resume into how you actually ran audits and what your error-rate methodology was.
Judgment under ambiguity. Many coding questions have a defensible range rather than one answer. Reviewers who can articulate why a code is arguably correct but not optimally supported score better than reviewers who only mark binary right/wrong.
Written precision. Rationales are the deliverable. Vague feedback like "documentation insufficient" fails; "documentation supports acute respiratory failure but lacks the linkage language required to sequence it as principal per Guideline II.C" passes.
Resistance to plausible-sounding errors. AI coding output is often confidently wrong in ways that read fluent. The screen probes whether you catch that.

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous. Work is drawn from a queue, and most contributors run 10–20 hours a week, though throughput expectations vary by project phase. Pay is stated as $80/hr observed for this listing — Mercor sets rates per project and per contributor, so treat it as a reference point, not a guarantee. Onboarding runs through Mercor's AI-led interview plus credential verification; project assignment follows separately and is not automatic after a passing screen.

What they look for

5+ years medical coding with 2+ years as coding manager or HIM leader
Expert command of ICD-10-CM/PCS and Official Coding Guidelines
CPC, CCS, RHIA, or RHIT credential (active)
Profee and/or inpatient facility coding with MS-DRG assignment experience
Documented coding audit and quality-program experience
Clear, citation-grounded written English

Before you apply

Would you pass this screen?

Drawn from what this listing actually requires. Answered in your browser — nothing is sent to us, and we do not store your answers.

Do you have at least 2 years of experience in a coding manager, HIM supervisor, or equivalent coding leadership role (not just coding)?
Coding management or HIM leadership experience · required
Do you have at least 5 years of total experience in medical coding (professional fee, facility inpatient, or both)?
Total coding experience · required
Do you have hands-on coding experience in professional fee (outpatient/CPT) coding, inpatient facility coding, or both?
Professional fee or inpatient facility coding · required
Do you have expert-level working knowledge of ICD-10-CM/PCS and CPT/HCPCS coding systems and Official Coding Guidelines?
ICD-10-CM/PCS and CPT/HCPCS proficiency · required
Have you worked with medical coding software (such as 3M, Nuance, Optum360, or TruCode) or EHR platforms in a production coding environment?
Coding software or EHR platform experience · preferred
Do you currently hold an active CPC, CCS, RHIA, RHIT, or equivalent coding/HIM credential, or are you eligible to sit for one?
Active HIM or coding credential · preferred

0 of 6 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 12 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Whether the candidate can spot recurring coding mistakes across a volume of cases and implement sustainable fixes, not just one-off corrections. This matters because AI training requires someone who can flag patterns in AI output, not just spot individual errors.
A strong answer: A strong answer names a specific coding rule or scenario (e.g., secondary diagnosis sequencing, modifier usage, DRG logic), describes the audit method or metric that surfaced the pattern, and explains a targeted intervention—retraining, workflow change, or guideline clarification—that you verified actually reduced the error rate.
Where people lose it: Describing a single coder's mistake or a one-time audit finding, rather than a pattern across multiple coders or cases. Also losing points by saying 'I fixed it' without showing how you measured whether the fix actually worked.