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Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a medical coder. Feel free to use our medical coder job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a medical coder.

 

Who Is a Medical Coder?

Do you want to know about a medical coder? There is no medical coder without coding. To understand our subject of study properly, We will briefly delve into “Medical Coding”

 

What is Medical Coding?

Medical coding and record-keeping have a long history in England, dating back to the 17th century, although it has advanced fast in the last few decades. Medical Coding is the process of converting medical diagnoses, procedures, medical services, and equipment into universal medical alphanumeric codes. It is the process of converting essential medical data into simple codes to document medical records and ensure proper medical billing.

Diagnoses and procedure codes are generated using medical record evidence such as transcriptions of physician’s notes, laboratory and radiologic results, and so on. Medical coding specialists aid in the appropriate application of codes during the medical billing process, which includes extracting data from paperwork, assigning pertinent codes, and submitting a claim to be reimbursed by insurance companies. Medical coding occurs every time you see a healthcare provider. Your complaint and medical history are reviewed by the healthcare professional, who then makes an experienced assessment of what’s wrong and how to treat you, as well as documenting your visit. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) are the two types of medical codes that are most commonly used in healthcare today (CPT). With this system in place, medical records can be easily transferred, billing can be simplified, and research and analysis to track health trends can be done more quickly.

Medical coding necessitates a unique set of skills. Medical coders are regarded as members of the medical team, and they frequently collaborate with doctors, managers, and payers.

 

A Medical Coder:

Medical coders are the individuals in charge of converting doctors’ reports into useable, consistent medical codes. A medical coder is a health information specialist whose key responsibilities include analyzing clinical statements and assigning standard codes to them using a classification system. And Medical and health services research, epidemiological studies, health resource allocation, case mix management, public health programming, medical billing, and public education are just a few of the uses for the data that local and national governments, private healthcare organizations, and international agencies use. These specialists work behind the scenes in several contexts, ensuring that all essential data is coded consistently and accurately. The insurance company or government provider must comprehend what was done when a medical professional evaluates or treats a patient to process the bill. Because common English is insufficient to provide the insurance company with the precise information it requires, medical operations are defined using a set of particular codes. The medical coder’s job is to make sure that this information is passed on in an effective and timely manner. A medical coder is also a person who works in the billing department of a doctor’s office, a hospital, or another medical facility. Medical coders convert healthcare claims into universal medical codes to receive reimbursement from insurance companies. A medical coder is saddled with the responsibility of assigning the correct code to indicate the sort of service that will be provided to a patient. A medical coder is also known as a Medical Coding Specialist, Medical Coding Auditor, Medical Coding Analyst, Diagnostic Coder, and Clinical Coding Officer.

 

Medical Coder Job Description

Below are the medical coder job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a medical coder job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.

The duties and responsibilities of a medical coder include the following:

• Assigning codes to medical procedures and diagnoses
• Receiving and examining patient charts and documentation for correctness and verification: When confirming a patient’s data, such as operation codes or other unique therapies provided during their visit, coders must review component elements for accuracy. The medical coder must ensure that codes tallies with the doctor’s diagnosis
• Assuring that codes are issued and sequenced accurately following government and insurance
• Providing insurance companies and Medicare with codes of patient health conditions, where available, so that they can appropriately compute payments for their patient customers.
• Providing information about patient health that can be used to determine the number of persons who are suffering from a specific ailment and the level of therapy that should be provided: These statistics help the government to fight illness and diseases.
• Collecting data from a variety of sources to generate monthly reports based on the physician’s
• Retaining accurate records of a patient’s sickness and treatment, and making them available to other members of the healthcare team who are trying to improve the patient’s health upon request.
• Assigning codes to illnesses and procedures, using ICD (International Classification of Diseases) and CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes.
• Developing and implementing strategic procedures and selecting tactics and evaluation methodologies that produce accurate outcomes.
• Following up any information that is unclear to other members of the team and explaining
• Following up with the provider on any documentation that is insufficient or ambiguous: A medical coder must be able to consult medical specialists for further clarification and explanation of the information on patient charts to avoid any misinterpretation. The medical coder must as well evaluate refused patient claims and re-file appeals.
• Examining any reported medical misconduct by examining and determining the medical procedures, diagnosis, or events that result in the malpractice.
• Being updated about new coding rules: Codes changes from time to time, so it becomes important that as codes change the medical coder stays informed about new coding rules.
• Developing healthy client relationships in the course of duty: While carrying out your duties as a medical coder, it is Important to cultivate positive client relationships.
• Performing and assisting the coding manager in any additional duties/responsibilities as needed.
• Examining and coding the patient notes from the previous day’s batch.
• Guiding and training the user community: A medical coder instructs and trains members of the public on how to use auto-encoding and manual coding rules.
• Meeting the daily coding task: Medical coders are frequently put on strict production timetables, to complete a certain number of notes per day or keep their lag days within a certain range. At the end of each day, coders return unprocessed work, perform a manual count or run a system report to determine productivity, and clean their work area.
• Notifying the supervisor of any equipment or computer program malfunctions.
• providing medical coding advice and training to physicians and personnel: A medical coder must be able to Provide precise solutions to coding-related questions. The individual serves on the local and global coding committees and provides strategic coding support.
• Identifying and reporting any case of missing or incomplete documentation: The incumbent will ensure that all coding is completed and that all regulations are followed.
• Following the norms and policies for medical coding: A medical coder will ensure compliance with federal and state standards, following coding principles and legal requirements.

 

 

Qualifications

We must understand that employers have different preferences for the qualifications needed to qualify for a medical coding position. However, some qualifications are very outstanding and highly sorted out. These are the qualifications required for a medical coding job;

• A high school diploma is required.
• An Associate’s degree in medical coding is required.
• An excellent understanding of ICD-9 procedures and codes.
• Commitment to providing excellent customer service.
• Should be able to work independently
• In-service training as required by management will be an added advantage.
• Multitasking, prioritizing, and time management
• Must be a team member who is goal-oriented and well-organized.

 

Essential Skills

• Organization Skills: To manage all of the data from diverse sources in a methodical manner, medical coders must have excellent organizational abilities. Rather than shuffle around, you should be able to offer medical records swiftly. Apart from arranging information for your convenience, coders must occasionally recollect and show it to others. There may be situations when a patient or an insurance company requires additional services. Medical coders, for example, might want to keep track of a patient’s spending and the outstanding amount. In this scenario, keeping them organized will save them time and prevent them from losing their minds.
• Paying attention to details: One of the most important qualities a person can have is being detail-oriented. For health professionals and people alike, assigning incorrect alphanumeric numbers to numerous diagnostic medical procedures can be a serious issue. Medical coders must ensure that each payment information corresponds to the record entered into the system, in addition to the issue of invoices and the registration of payments. They’ll have to communicate with the insurance companies if they discover any information that doesn’t match. In the vast majority of cases, such discrepancies arise as a result of human mistakes. Either the medical coder forgets or jots down inaccurate information. It is possible to lose a lot of money by overlooking such little but crucial facts.

• Computer Proficiency: Coding is impossible without a solid understanding of computers. You’ll be entering data and diagnosis codes into several software systems, so you’ll need to be able to navigate them quickly. AdvancedMD, Epic, Homecare, DrChrono, Homebase, Centricity, and more software are among the options. You should also be able to type quickly and accurately, particularly at a 10-key pace.

• Good communication and interpersonal Capabilities: Although medical coders do not interact with patients, great communication skills are required for coding professionals to be effective. On any given day, you might need to contact doctors, nurses, surgeons, or other healthcare experts to address essential matters. As a result, maintaining a professional tone in your voice and paying close attention to what others say is critical. Nonverbal signs should also be taken into consideration. Make sure you can create reports and memoranda that are grammatically correct.

• Work on your own: One advantage of pursuing a profession in this industry is that you will have complete control over your work. You are capable of managing your workload without the need for supervision. As a result, you should be able to take proactive steps to complete your daily duties. You must eliminate any distractions that may impair the quality of your work, such as social media or emails that are not linked to your job. Even though you will not receive much external feedback, you should regularly assess the quality and amount of your job. You will be able to sustain a high level of performance daily in this manner.

• Understand Medical Terminology: You’ll still need to know a lot of medical jargon. Like any other healthcare professional, you must have a thorough understanding of autonomy, physiology, pharmacology, and disease processes. You will assign procedural and diagnostic codes to medical terminologies once you have a thorough understanding of them. Diseases are found all around the planet. You must have sufficient knowledge as a medical coder to assign specific codes to each of them. You must keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs because the healthcare system routinely updates these codes. It will assist you in properly communicating with medical personnel, patients, and insurance companies.

 

 

How To Become a Medical Coder

Do you think this is a career that suits your personality? Well, here is a step by step guide on how to become a medical coder;

1) Obtain a Post Graduate Degree: While post-secondary education isn’t the only essential to working as a medical coder, because, Medical coders can pursue their undergraduate education in one of the three ways: a certificate program, an associate’s degree, or a bachelor’s degree, that notwithstanding, a certificate program, which takes less than a year to finish, is the shortest way to get into the field. These are concentrated study programs that address the fundamentals of disease processes, therapeutic techniques, terminology, body systems, and ICD-10 basic coding. These programs’ curricula are aimed at preparing students for immediate work as well as for official credentialing exams. It is critical that the educational institution is accredited, regardless of which path one follows to obtain their prerequisite education in medical coding.

 

2) Obtaining a Preliminary Certification: Almost every medical coding education program prepares students to take basic credentialing examinations. Some certifications don’t require any work experience, and you can sit for the exam if you complete the educational requirements. Instances could be to earn Certified Coding Associate (CCA) credential, which is a globally recognized achievement level in health information management, or Obtain the RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician) certification. While no job experience is required for this certification, it does need at least an Associate’s degree in health information management from a CAHIIM(Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information)-accredited program.

 

3) Acquire Work Experience: After the acquisition of your certificate and degree, then it’s time for new medical coders to step into the workplace and start work. Getting some work experience can assist young professionals to figure out whether they want to work in a hospital or a physician’s office, which can help them narrow down their options for additional professional credentials.

 

4) Obtain Advanced Medical Coding Certification: You can get more advanced qualifications to assist develop your career once you’ve had some job experience. Some higher-level qualifications, such as Certified Coding Specialist – Physician-based (CCS-P) and Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), demand work experience in addition to your school background, making them ideal to finish after a few years in the field.

 

5) Career Progression: After obtaining your advanced certification, you can continue working as a medical coder and, if desired, expand your career. Moving into a leadership role as a compliance auditor, manager, or consultant could be a good way to enhance your career.

 

Where To Work As a Medical Coder

1) The Hospital and Doctors Office: Patients in hospitals may receive a variety of therapies from a variety of doctors. That means medical coders in hospitals should expect a lot of critical thinking and study to find obscure medical codes. Working in a smaller, more narrowly specialized clinic might be a great challenge, but don’t discount the benefits of working in a smaller, more narrowly specialized clinic.

2) Work Remotely/Home Office: Working as a medical coder from home isn’t a possibility with every business, and it’s usually only available to those with a lot of expertise. However, because the task can be done so simply digitally, some organizations are allowing remote employees to work.

3) The University: Medical schools have possibilities in their affiliated teaching hospital and in traditional classrooms where medical coding is taught.

4) Insurance Agencies

5) Educational Institutions

6) Government Agencies

7) Healthcare Consulting Services

8) Law Firms

10) Out-Patient Surgery Centers

 

 

Medical Coder Salary Scale

What is the salary of a medical coder? Note that our statistics are based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies this employment as medical records and health information professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary in this sector is $44,090.

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