SCENARIO You have 35 inpatient coder FTEs and you regularly utilize 6 FTE contract inpatient coders. At this staffing level, you are able to maintain the DNFB within the expected dollar range. You are creating your budget for next year and you need to account for a couple changes. You have been asked to lower the DNFB by 10-15%. You are also implementing a computer-assisted coding system shortly and will complete the implementation before next year. The CAC vendor claims the system will give you a 19% improvement over your current inpatient coding productivity.Working from your current staffing level (including both employed and contract coders), and given the increased work needed to lower the DNFB but some expected productivity gain with the CAC system, should you request additional funds for more contract inpatient coding hours in your budget for next year? (You can assume the volume of inpatient cases will remain essentially the same.) If you need more hours, how many hours do you project you will need? If you dont need more hours, how many contract inpatient coders do you project you will need (the same at approx 6 FTE or fewer)?