Certified professional coder vs medical record assistant

The differences between certified professional coders and medical record assistants 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 medical record assistant. Additionally, a certified professional coder has an average salary of $52,683, which is higher than the $34,870 average annual salary of a medical record assistant.

The top three skills for a certified professional coder include CPC, medical terminology and AAPC. The most important skills for a medical record assistant are patients, data entry, and HIPAA.

Certified professional coder vs medical record assistant overview

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Record Assistant
Yearly salary	$52,683	$34,870
Hourly rate	$25.33	$16.76
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	86,465	91,238
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
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 medical record assistant do?

A medical record assistant is responsible for the proper documentation of the patients' information and medical records for reference to the attending physician or other medical professionals. Medical record assistants also track the patient's medical treatments and progress, as well as their health insurance details and coverage. They also respond to the patient's inquiries and concerns, including scheduling physician's appointments and updating the patients for any released medical results. A medical record assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills, categorizing documents, and retrieving files for medical needs.

Certified professional coder vs medical record assistant salary

Certified professional coders and medical record assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Record Assistant
Average salary	$52,683	$34,870
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $28,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	Napa, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
Best paying industry	Technology	Government

Differences between certified professional coder and medical record assistant education

There are a few differences between a certified professional coder and a medical record assistant in terms of educational background:

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Record Assistant
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Certified professional coder vs medical record assistant demographics

Here are the differences between certified professional coders' and medical record assistants' demographics:

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Record Assistant
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1%	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%
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, 9.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.5% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified professional coder and medical record assistant 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.

Medical record assistant example responsibilities.

Lead special department-wide task force initiative to minimize abuse of Oxycontin prescriptions bill to Medicaid.
Manage and organize all paperwork concerning caregivers and patients; organize filing system; ensure operation of electronic filing systems.
Work with EHR, provide medical records to patients and specialty centers.
Guide department through transition from paper charts to EHR system scan all patient records into database.
Scan documents into electronic medical records system and certify HIPAA compliance
Implement HIPAA guidelines in keeping patient information secure and confidential.

Certified professional coder vs medical record assistant skills

Common certified professional coder skills

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

Common medical record assistant skills

Patients, 37%
Data Entry, 8%
HIPAA, 6%
Patient Care, 4%
Vital Signs, 4%
Medical Terminology, 3%

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Certified Professional Coder vs Medical Record Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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