Certified professional coder vs certified coding specialist

The differences between certified professional coders and certified coding specialists 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 professional coder and a certified coding specialist. Additionally, a certified professional coder has an average salary of $52,683, which is higher than the $51,818 average annual salary of a certified coding specialist.

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

Certified professional coder vs certified coding specialist overview

	Certified Professional Coder	Certified Coding Specialist
Yearly salary	$52,683	$51,818
Hourly rate	$25.33	$24.91
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	86,465	62,432
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Associate Degree, 34%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

Certified professional coder vs certified coding specialist salary

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

	Certified Professional Coder	Certified Coding Specialist
Average salary	$52,683	$51,818
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $37,000 And $71,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between certified professional coder and certified coding specialist education

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

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

Certified professional coder vs certified coding specialist demographics

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

	Certified Professional Coder	Certified Coding Specialist
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1%	Male, 8.6% Female, 91.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 8.3% White, 62.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%	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%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified professional coder and certified coding specialist duties and responsibilities

Certified professional coder example responsibilities.

Manage the outsourced transcription company.
Apply ICD-10-CM, CPT-4 codes and modifiers in accordance with federal regulations.
Validate DRG's for inpatient and inpatient RAC appeals as well as validating DRG changes.
Assist with insurance verification and registration, including Medicare and Medicaid.
Review, analyze, and code all ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM diagnoses.
Work all age reports for all Medicaid.

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.

Certified professional coder vs certified coding specialist skills

Common certified professional coder skills

CPC, 20%
Medical Terminology, 9%
AAPC, 8%
Patients, 7%
ICD-10-CM, 5%
E/M, 4%

Common certified coding specialist skills

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

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Certified Professional Coder vs Certified Coding Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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