If you are looking for a job with good long-term prospects, medical coding jobs in the healthcare field could be a good fit for you. As of late 2017, healthcare became the largest job source throughout the United States. The high demand for qualified healthcare professionals means more job security and room to grow than in other fields. Read on to get a behind the scenes look at the duties of a medical coder who take on medical coding jobs in health institutions.
What is a Medical Coder?
Medical coders update patient records with standardized information required for billing purposes and data management. Each time a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider offers a service, a code must be assigned to each diagnosis and procedure.
Start of the Work Day
After becoming a medical coder, your day will typically start with logging onto your computer and opening the various programs you require to perform your job. You will most probably have a company email account, one or more databases, and other software programs you deal with on a daily basis. Once you have opened these applications, you will check for pending and update patient charts. You will have to prioritize the charts and select those you should handle first. Your training will help you choose which charts are urgent, and which ones can wait.
Middle of the Work Day
After prioritizing your charts, you will spend most of your day carrying out a range of coding tasks. In addition to assigning codes, you will be going through medical charts, taking notes, and possibly assisting with billing. A large part of your day will take place in front of the computer. Therefore, your workstation should be set up in a way that helps to increase your efficiency and productivity.
End of the Work Day
At the end of the workday, you will likely have a few tasks left to complete once you’ve finished coding all of the patient charts. Ideally, you will have to save your work and log out of all your computer programs, and make sure any paper-based records are appropriately filed away. If any new charts have come in at the end of the day, you may want to evaluate and prioritize them so that you will be one step ahead on the next day’s work.
Salaries for a medical coder
The BLS reports in medical coding jobs earned an average salary of $34,60 annually in 2017. However, attaining industry certification, including the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) credential from the AAPC and gaining years of experience, can lead to higher earnings. According to the 2017 AAPC Salary Survey, coders with over 13 years of experience and the CPC certification earn an average annual salary of $54,200.
