Certified professional coder vs health care administrator

The differences between certified professional coders and health care administrators 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 health care administrator. Additionally, a health care administrator has an average salary of $68,187, which is higher than the $52,683 average annual salary of a certified professional coder.

The top three skills for a certified professional coder include CPC, medical terminology and AAPC. The most important skills for a health care administrator are patients, patient care, and health care services.

Certified professional coder vs health care administrator overview

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Care Administrator
Yearly salary	$52,683	$68,187
Hourly rate	$25.33	$32.78
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	86,465	161,949
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

What does a certified professional coder do?

A certified professional coder oversees the daily medical coding operations of a medical facility, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations. They usually have the responsibility to provide coding to facilities, update databases, and conduct reviews and assessments to identify missing details or inconsistencies and perform corrective measures. Moreover, as a certified professional coder, it is essential to coordinate with external parties such as insurance providers and communicate with patients, assisting them by answering inquiries, explaining procedures, and solving issues and concerns if any would arise.

What does a health care administrator do?

A health care administrator is primarily in charge of overseeing the daily administrative operations of medical and health care facilities. They are responsible for setting objectives, establishing guidelines and employee schedules, maintaining accurate records, gathering and analyzing data, developing strategies to optimize operations, and coordinating with nurses, physicians, patients, and other health care experts. Moreover, as a health care administrator, it is essential to address and resolve issues and concerns, implement the facility's policies and regulations, and ensure that procedures comply with health care laws and standards.

Certified professional coder vs health care administrator salary

Certified professional coders and health care administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Care Administrator
Average salary	$52,683	$68,187
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $48,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Nevada
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	One Brooklyn Health
Best paying industry	Technology	Professional

Differences between certified professional coder and health care administrator education

There are a few differences between a certified professional coder and a health care administrator in terms of educational background:

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Care Administrator
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Nursing
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Certified professional coder vs health care administrator demographics

Here are the differences between certified professional coders' and health care administrators' demographics:

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Care Administrator
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1%	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%
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, 8.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 8.5% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified professional coder and health care administrator 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.

Health care administrator example responsibilities.

Research and resolve recipients complaints relate to Medicaid service limitations, accessibility of MediPass manage services and provider treatment of recipients.
Interview prospective adopters and communicate the pet's needs.
Design training for EMR implementation for staff and medical providers.
Oversee pet care technician staff and report issues to management.
Utilize electronic medical records (EMR) technology for military members.
Supervise the maintenance and safeguarding of medical records and compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Certified professional coder vs health care administrator skills

Common certified professional coder skills

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

Common health care administrator skills

Patients, 26%
Patient Care, 9%
Health Care Services, 6%
Home Health, 6%
Mental Health, 6%
Vital Signs, 4%

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Certified Professional Coder vs Health Care Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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