Medical billing and coding is a growing industry and everyday more and more candidates are deriving interest in this field of work. Medical facilities hire coders for both In-house requirement as well as outsource the billing and coding processes to professional medical billing and coding companies whose sole task is to handle all the administrative tasks that the medical facilities wish to by pass from their list of duties.
Source : medcitynews.com
Outsourcing the billing and coding work to offshore billing companies certainly has its advantages, however we aren’t really going to look into that in this article.
This one is for all the sprouting medical coding enthusiasts who want to receive a brief overview of what responsibilities and skills are required to become an excellent medical coder.
Duties and Responsibilities
Before I begin to critique on the skill set and required talent level for the ideal candidate, I am delving a bit into the Job Roles and responsibilities that a coding professional needs to be aware of.
1. A coder needs to record the data that they receive daily from various affiliate medical facilities. Once recorded, they need to then analyze the data, and determine the most accurate codes.
2. The coders are expected to be familiar with using different types of medical codes used for various kinds of services such as International Classification of Diseases (ICD), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), Diagnosis-related Group (DRG) codes etc.
3. Unlike the inhouse coders, offshore medical coders need to often work on multiple accounts outsourced from various healthcare facilities.
Necessary
Skills, Education, and Experience
If you have survived this far into the article, then rest assured, it only gets simpler from here on. Lets talk about Skill sets of the ideal candidate that really works for a Medical Billing Company.
1. Computer Specialist
Medical coding process usually involves a lot of use of exclusive coding softwares. Hence, having a quick and adaptive computer skill definitely helps establish a strong foothold in the desired position.
2. Communication Skills
Medical coders often encounter tasks related to effectively communicating with other co-workers, clients, and other professionals. This means that it is imperative to have strong communication skills.
3. Educational Programs
These days, many universities and educational institutes offer a 2 year associate degree program in medical coding . This program gears up the basics and prepares the candidates for their tasks and roles ahead.
Life of a Medical Coder
Freelance Coding jobs are not that successful as of now due to the fear of fraud. However, if that is what you wish to do, then it doesn’t harm to start of by offering your services to the local medical clinics and facilities so as to gain experience and have a working understanding of the concept.
Work leads are also found on various online job boards and forums. Care must be given to the authenticity of the client and therefore it is always best to take your time and weigh your options.
