What you Need to know about Medical Coding

What is Medical Coding?

Medical coding is the transformation of the following in to universal Medical alphanumeric codes.

• Healthcare diagnosis
• Procedures
• Medical services
• Equipment

• The diagnosis and procedure codes are taken  from medical record documentation, such as transcription of physicians notes, laboratory and radiologic results, etc.

Career path Ahead

• If you are currently employed as a medical coder, it would perhaps make a sense to gain considerable work and domain related experience i.e. at least 1-2 years of experience. This coupled with the right certification should be give you a head-start on your  career progression.

• The US healthcare industry is in the middle of a shift from ICD 9 to ICD 10 and having experience in the later is valuable asset right now and for coming year.

• With increase in your expertise and experience, you can expect your pay scale to go up. Down the line, you can get into medical office  management or medical office operations. 

Opportunities in Medical Coding

• Over the past several years there has been increase in the number of coding audits performed by the government to look for fraudulent  coding practices.

• In addition, there has been an increase in the rules regarding the privacy of health information records.

• Due to these recent developments, qualified coder's are needed to fill jobs other than the traditional medical coding positions.

• Some additional job opportunities for medical coders includes outpatient coding, inpatient coding, HEDIS abstraction, medical billing, and Medical Coding instructor.

• There are also positions available in closely related areas such as Health information management including coding supervisor  and health information manager.