Certified professional coder vs medical records manager

The differences between certified professional coders and medical records managers 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 records manager. Additionally, a medical records manager has an average salary of $75,232, 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 medical records manager are patients, HIPAA, and patient care.

Certified professional coder vs medical records manager overview

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Records Manager
Yearly salary	$52,683	$75,232
Hourly rate	$25.33	$36.17
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	86,465	54,997
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
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 records manager do?

The main job of a medical records manager is to secure and maintain electronic and written data within a medical records department. Medical records managers retrieve patient records for medical personnel and physicians. They supervise the department's employees. It is their responsibility to document a patient's health information, which may include symptoms, histories, and exam results. They ensure that the confidentiality of patients will follow the proper record-keeping practices. Also, they manage electronic health records and computer software.

Certified professional coder vs medical records manager salary

Certified professional coders and medical records managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Records Manager
Average salary	$52,683	$75,232
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $50,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	New Jersey
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	Amazon
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between certified professional coder and medical records manager education

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

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Records Manager
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Certified professional coder vs medical records manager demographics

Here are the differences between certified professional coders' and medical records managers' demographics:

	Certified Professional Coder	Medical Records Manager
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.9% Female, 91.1%	Male, 21.1% Female, 78.9%
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, 8.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 8.1% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between certified professional coder and medical records manager 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 records manager example responsibilities.

Manage 2nd/ 3rd and weekend shift supervisors and staff and develop unit (s) QA activities.
Achieve this goal by providing clear policies/justification for initiatives which impact designated FTE's.
Prepare documents for FOIA requests.
Assign ICD-9 and CPT medical codes.
Have knowledge of the latest CPT coding.
Ensure compliance with medical/legal requirements, JCAHO standards.

Certified professional coder vs medical records manager skills

Common certified professional coder skills

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

Common medical records manager skills

Patients, 29%
HIPAA, 10%
Patient Care, 10%
EHR, 4%
Hippa, 4%
Medical Terminology, 4%

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Certified Professional Coder vs Medical Records Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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