Working as a medical coder

People tend to associate health care most with those in positions that patients personally interact with; titles that come to mind include doctors, dentists and surgeons. Still, one cannot forget that a successful health care facility is also greatly dependent on the people behind the scenes. There are many steps that must be taken to provide care to a patient before any actual treatment occurs, and steps that come afterward, as well. That is where medical coders come into the picture.

What they do:

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical records and health information technicians assemble patients' health information; this includes examination results, diagnostic tests, medical history, symptoms, treatment methods, and all other healthcare provider services. Technicians are responsible for both organizing and managing this health information data by making sure that it is accurate, accessible to those who need it, and secure from those who do not.

Medical coders represent a specialized group of health information technicians. They work in the billing office of medical practices or hospitals, where they compile and maintain medical records of their facility's patients. Coders assign numeric codes that are unique to the given patient's symptoms and diagnosis and identify each procedure and service that was performed. These medical claims are then reviewed and processed in order to help practices and hospitals get reimbursed from insurance companies for facilities and services provided to their patients.

Medical coders have a number of different career paths they can opt to follow. These include insurance claim analyst, procedural coder, coding abstracting analyst and outpatient coder. Other potential opportunities include managed care organization coder, inpatient hospital coder, insurance fraud investigator and physician's office/clinic coder.

One potential drawback of all these positions is that they allow little to no interaction with patients. On a more positive note, job prospects in this field are very good, according to the BLS. Many of the positions mentioned above can be utilized as stepping stones toward more high-level and well-paid jobs in medical office operations or management.

What they need:

According to the American Medical Association, those who wish to become medical coders have a number of different educational paths they can opt to take toward getting into the field. Such paths include online training, book-based self-study programs, on-the-job training with certified professional coders, or classroom training at a community college or trade school led by an instructor.

There are also a number of organizations that offer coding certification. Among these organizations are the Board of Medical Specialty Coding, the American Academy of Professional Coders, the Professional Association of Health Care Coding Specialists and the American Health Information Management Association. Since the industry is rapidly changing alongside the ever-advancing technology, most credentials can only be maintained by the completion of continued education every two years.

What they earn:

The average salary for a medical coder is $48,281, according to CBsalary.com. The 25^th and 75^th percentiles of salaries fall between $39,316 and $58,643, respectively.