By: Carol Runyan, Director of Learning and Development; and Scot Nemchik, Vice President of Coding and Compliance at IOD

Due to advances in technology and improved connectivity over the last two decades, coding has become a decentralized process for many healthcare organizations. Rather than working in the same office, most coders now work remotely from various locations-frequently in different countries-making it difficult to ask colleagues quick questions or collaborate with coworkers who were formerly just down the hall.

Using secure enterprise social networks that enable virtual collaboration, like IOD's OneIOD powered by Yammer, organizations can foster coder teamwork and create a powerful sense of belonging to peer groups and the organization as a whole. Through this unique platform, coders and other staff are able to hold conversations, plan projects, and find valuable information, resources, and experts-all remotely-without the confines of team silos. Secure enterprise social networks also enable efficient problem-solving through tools such as content syncing and real-time collaboration, helping organizations and their coders reduce roadblocks to efficient coding and resolve issues faster.

The Social Network Advantage
Although much more secure, enterprise social networks operate similarly to other social media sites. They offer accessible and searchable open forums for an entire network of members and streamline information sharing via private groups, organized by client or specialty, for example.

Enterprise social networks offer many benefits for coders-as well as for their employers-as they allow staff to work together to drive organizationwide success.

Key benefits include:

Increased productivity. Time spent asking questions via inefficient phone calls or Web searches is time lost coding. In a virtual forum, coders can post relevant questions to their peers without picking up a phone or even getting out of their chair-receiving answers in minutes from a designated leader or expert. Additionally, coders can control network notifications so that they send and receive only information pertinent to their specific needs, avoiding information overload on topics that are not relevant to their work. According to a 2012 report by McKinsey Global Institute, the productivity of "interaction workers," such as managers and other professionals-i.e., coders-can increase 20 to 25 percent by using social collaboration technologies like enterprise social networks.

Improved coding accuracy and quality. Without efficient ways to ask quick questions or bounce ideas off of peers, coders often sacrifice collaboration in order to spend more time coding. With coding accuracy increasingly tied to an organization's bottom line and more visible than ever before, organizations can strengthen coders' performance and engagement through virtual collaborations. With the ability to get immediate responses from a variety of individuals, coders are more likely to ask questions and make better coding decisions to improve overall coding quality.

Efficient education and training. Enterprise social network platforms can be used to deliver training programs, such as for ICD-10, which further develop coding staff proficiency and ensure compliance.

An effective replacement for an intranet. Because enterprise social network platforms connect individuals from across the organization who might not otherwise interact, they may replace an organization's intranet. For example, using an enterprise social network, HIM staff may be able to quickly answer questions for ROI staff, negating the need for the slower-moving Intranet. Enterprise social networks can even encourage information sharing across health systems, not just within a single organization-whereas intranets are limited to just one organization.

The Power of a Post
Essentially, an enterprise social network functions as a forum for solving business problems. By fostering a place for members to pose questions or comments to a large number of participants, network groups enable individuals to find and solicit valuable information they might not otherwise be able to obtain-at least not as efficiently.

For example, last year a relatively new IOD coder was faced with a complicated orthopedic procedure even seasoned veterans found challenging. The coder posted a question to OneIOD in the Coding Questions Group, including key details from the operative report. Within a short time, she received several helpful responses from peers as well as from senior level coders validating how challenging that particular case was and instructing her how to properly code the procedure. She also received links to clinically-oriented Web pages and videos featuring technical aspects of the procedure so she could better understand it.

By reaching out through the enterprise social network, the new coder was empowered to make informed decisions and code the procedure efficiently and accurately.

The previous example is just one of many instances where IOD staff members have leveraged the organization's secure enterprise social network to improve coding performance and efficiency. Between February and November 2013, more than 130 group members contributed to 2,800 posts in IOD's general HIM Division Group. In the Coding Questions Group alone, 89 members contributed to 1,800 messages and posts between July and November 2013.

Connecting Organizations of all Sizes
A secure enterprise social network can bring the vast resources of an organization to one virtual location, allowing coders and other staff to ask questions, share knowledge, or search on topics necessary to improve job performance. A single question posted by a coder can be viewed by all in a network, cutting down on duplicate questions while sharing the knowledge base. Essentially, bringing to life the concept of asked by one, heard by all. For health systems with multiple locations, social media platforms can easily connect hundreds-if not thousands-of individuals at once.

People benefit from regular contact with others, and coders who are connected to each other via an enterprise social network enjoy greater satisfaction with their work and employer. By leveraging this communication technology, coders located throughout the world can seamlessly connect with their organizations and go from being an island to part of a knowledgeable and productive community.

Carol Runyan is Director of Learning and Development at IOD Incorporated. She is charged with overseeing and executing learning strategies as well as driving growth and development through the IOD Learning Institute, employee and leadership development programs, performance management, and social collaboration. Carol brings a passion for learning to IOD with more than 15 years of operational and training experience. Carol has dedicated her career to helping organizations realize the value of learning through the growth and development of employees, aligning programs and activities to the business objectives, and utilizing data and metrics to illustrate results.

Scot Nemchik CCS, AHIMA-Approved ICD-10CM/PCS Trainer is Vice President of Coding Compliance and Education for IOD. Scot has over 11 years of health information management experience with concentrations in revenue cycle optimization, workflow assessment/improvement, and acute care coding/compliance, specializing in interventional radiology/cardiac catheterization. Previously, Scot was the Coding Compliance and Education Coordinator for a four hospital health system where he was responsible for the training and education of all coding staff and a multitude of clinical personnel. In this role, Scot has worked with multidisciplinary teams to analyze coded data in order to assess its contribution to publicly-reported data, and facility profiles/accreditations. In his current role at IOD, Scot leads the IOD Coder Development Program and is product owner of IOD's ICD-10 Gym.