Certified professional coder vs health information specialist

The differences between certified professional coders and health information 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 health information specialist. Additionally, a certified professional coder has an average salary of $52,683, which is higher than the $33,343 average annual salary of a health information specialist.

The top three skills for a certified professional coder include CPC, medical terminology and AAPC. The most important skills for a health information specialist are patients, HIPAA, and medical terminology.

Certified professional coder vs health information specialist overview

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Information Specialist
Yearly salary	$52,683	$33,343
Hourly rate	$25.33	$16.03
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	86,465	135,448
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
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 information specialist do?

A health information specialist is in charge of overseeing and developing strategies to optimize information management procedures in hospitals, physicians' offices, and other similar environments. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering and updating medical records, receiving and organizing files, and updating databases according to the appropriate coding systems and procedures. Furthermore, as a health information specialist, it is essential to coordinate with nurses and other staff to ensure accuracy in documentation, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Certified professional coder vs health information specialist salary

Certified professional coders and health information specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Information Specialist
Average salary	$52,683	$33,343
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $25,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	University of California
Best paying industry	Technology	Health Care

Differences between certified professional coder and health information specialist education

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

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Information Specialist
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Southern California

Certified professional coder vs health information specialist demographics

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

	Certified Professional Coder	Health Information Specialist
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1%	Male, 15.1% Female, 84.9%
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, 9.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.7% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified professional coder and health information 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.

Health information specialist example responsibilities.

Manage chart completion (ICD-9-CM and CPT coding/abstracting), chart assembly and analysis, patient admission and patient information privacy/security.
Review and audit medical records for correct DRG and APC assignment.
Certify requests for subpoenas, court orders, legal cases and training of employees.
Utilize Cerner and Centricity systems to assist in ancillary services.
Abstract medical records with ICD9-CM, CPT and DRG coding.
Scan documentation via DCS into HPF to be index under ROI.

Certified professional coder vs health information specialist skills

Common certified professional coder skills

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

Common health information specialist skills

Patients, 26%
HIPAA, 11%
Medical Terminology, 10%
Patient Care, 10%
Data Entry, 4%
Office Equipment, 3%

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Certified Professional Coder vs Health Information Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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