Certified coding specialist vs medical coder

The differences between certified coding specialists and medical coders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a certified coding specialist and a medical coder. Additionally, a certified coding specialist has an average salary of $51,818, which is higher than the $51,563 average annual salary of a medical coder.

The top three skills for a certified coding specialist include medical terminology, ICD-10-CM and CPC. The most important skills for a medical coder are CPC, medical terminology, and ICD-10-CM.

Certified coding specialist vs medical coder overview

	Certified Coding Specialist	Medical Coder
Yearly salary	$51,818	$51,563
Hourly rate	$24.91	$24.79
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	62,432	51,316
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Associate Degree, 37%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

Certified coding specialist vs medical coder salary

Certified coding specialists and medical coders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Coding Specialist	Medical Coder
Average salary	$51,818	$51,563
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $71,000	Between $37,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	-	Trenton, NJ
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between certified coding specialist and medical coder education

There are a few differences between a certified coding specialist and a medical coder in terms of educational background:

	Certified Coding Specialist	Medical Coder
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Associate Degree, 37%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	Georgetown University	Stanford University

Certified coding specialist vs medical coder demographics

Here are the differences between certified coding specialists' and medical coders' demographics:

	Certified Coding Specialist	Medical Coder
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.6% Female, 91.4%	Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 9.1% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 9.0% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified coding specialist and medical coder duties and responsibilities

Certified coding specialist example responsibilities.

Manage the outsourced transcription company.
Comply with HIPAA privacy laws.
File appeals and reviews for deny claims.
Conduct prospective E/M audits for clinic and hospital services.
Access hospital records, post E/M charges, electronically.
Post EOB's in system and file under corresponding insurances.

Medical coder example responsibilities.

Manage all EDI relate communication with trading partners and assist to produce all operational documents for all end users.
Manage all aspects of AR including writing letters for medical necessity, claim denials, bundling issues and charge capture.
Manage health records while applying ICD-10 coding to update and process insurance claims for time and accuracy to various insurance companies.
Manage the outsourced transcription company.
Create documentation education classes to general surgery residents, increasing the leveling of reporting which lead to increase revenues.
Adhere to regulations with CPT-4, ICD-9-CM and HCPCS coding with medical terminology and effort meet all audit requirements.

Certified coding specialist vs medical coder skills

Common certified coding specialist skills

Medical Terminology, 13%
ICD-10-CM, 10%
CPC, 9%
CPT-4, 6%
AHIMA, 6%
DRG, 5%

Common medical coder skills

CPC, 11%
Medical Terminology, 8%
ICD-10-CM, 7%
AHIMA, 7%
Patients, 7%
Clinical Documentation, 5%

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Certified Coding Specialist vs Medical Coder

Updated January 8, 2025

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