There are lots of medical billing and coding jobs on the marketplace. If you are competent and knowledgeable you are likely to get one easily. Lots of medical coding and billing jobs are posted in daily newspaper or job searching websites everyday in United States. Job sites, as for example Indeed.com, Glass door. Com, Monster jobs. Com etc. posts many medical coding and billing jobs everyday given by many big hospitals, clinics, physicians, coding companies etc. Many healthcare agencies and hospitals are recruiting medical coders from campus job fairs.
However, finding a good job at a suitable location is never easy whatever the profession is. From student life every medical coder should know what certifications they have to get? What basic knowledge they have to learn? What codes, laws and regulations they have to know? What other practical knowledge they need to know? There should a clear carrier planning what is best possible job for a skilled medical coder and how one could get one? If you have a good carrier plan at the beginning of your medical coding schooling, you will definitely focus key thing differently. First of all, basic knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology, medicine, surgery, dentistry, medical laws, insurance policies etc. should be given priority in learning. That will help them when they will be engaged in medical coding or billing jobs with other health care professionals in the future. But, make no mistake, medical coding guidelines using computer must be given the top most priority. That is why ICD-9 is so vital to know.
This coding guideline gets updated time to time. Then, you, as medical coding or medical billing professional, should know the latest coding guidelines on practice. After completing your associate or certificate degree, you should sit for a certification exam like CPC (AAPC) or CHIMA (AHIMA). These professional certifications are highly valued throughout the country. American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC) is the professional body of medical coding and billing professionals in the United States. So, it is always better to get their membership as early as possible. These will help new medical coders find coding or billing jobs through networking. Their membership will also help you to get updated training and guidelines from some of best medical coding professionals in the country. If you could do these steps correctly then, you are likely to get a medical coding or billing job with a handsome salary. At the beginning of the carrier, although the salary is low, it is likely to increase fast if you the basics have certification and on-hand internship training. An entry level medical coding or billing professional usually get 2000-2500 $ per month.
That means almost $25,000 per year. An experienced medical coder or billing professional who holds 8-10 year of experience gets $4,000 per month. That mean almost $50,000 per year. Comparing with other health care professionals like physicians, pharmacists or nurses, medical coders gets low salary. But when calculated with the years spend on academia or internship, even the effort to get the degree, or the tuition fees requirement with other healthcare degrees, return on investment is big in this profession.