Health information management director vs medical coder

The differences between health information management directors and medical coders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a health information management director and a medical coder. Additionally, a health information management director has an average salary of $132,896, which is higher than the $51,563 average annual salary of a medical coder.

The top three skills for a health information management director include patients, oversight and medical terminology. The most important skills for a medical coder are CPC, medical terminology, and ICD-10-CM.

Health information management director vs medical coder overview

	Health Information Management Director	Medical Coder
Yearly salary	$132,896	$51,563
Hourly rate	$63.89	$24.79
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	174,388	51,316
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 37%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

What does a health information management director do?

A Health Information Management Director develops and supervises health information systems. They also ensure that health information systems meet medical, legal, and ethical standards.

What does a medical coder do?

A medical coder's role is to interpret and analyze a patient's medical record and translate particular details according to the universal medical alphanumeric code. Moreover, a medical coder is primarily responsible for ensuring that the translations are accurate, as this will play a vital factor in processing insurance and receiving treatments. Aside from accuracy, it is also crucial for a medical coder to coordinate with other hospital personnel at all times, especially when there inconsistencies in the records.

Health information management director vs medical coder salary

Health information management directors and medical coders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Health Information Management Director	Medical Coder
Average salary	$132,896	$51,563
Salary range	Between $95,000 And $185,000	Between $37,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	Trenton, NJ
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Hawaii
Best paying company	University of Maryland Medical System	Meta
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between health information management director and medical coder education

There are a few differences between a health information management director and a medical coder in terms of educational background:

	Health Information Management Director	Medical Coder
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 37%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	University of Southern California	Stanford University

Health information management director vs medical coder demographics

Here are the differences between health information management directors' and medical coders' demographics:

	Health Information Management Director	Medical Coder
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 16.5% Female, 83.5%	Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.6% White, 60.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 9.0% White, 60.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between health information management director and medical coder duties and responsibilities

Health information management director example responsibilities.

Manage EMR image title, deficiency table, physician table, ROI table.
Implement and manage projects with complex HL7 interfaces between multiple clinical systems including writing project plans.
Achieve this goal by providing clear policies/justification for initiatives which impact designated FTE's.
Provide physician education on documentation improvement initiatives for ICD-9 and ICD-10.
Code patient charts for inpatient stays and outpatient services receive for mental and chemical dependence rehabilitation.
Train and provide support for Eclinicalworks software.

Medical coder example responsibilities.

Manage all EDI relate communication with trading partners and assist to produce all operational documents for all end users.
Manage all aspects of AR including writing letters for medical necessity, claim denials, bundling issues and charge capture.
Manage health records while applying ICD-10 coding to update and process insurance claims for time and accuracy to various insurance companies.
Manage the outsourced transcription company.
Create documentation education classes to general surgery residents, increasing the leveling of reporting which lead to increase revenues.
Adhere to regulations with CPT-4, ICD-9-CM and HCPCS coding with medical terminology and effort meet all audit requirements.

Health information management director vs medical coder skills

Common health information management director skills

Patients, 21%
Oversight, 8%
Medical Terminology, 7%
ICD-10, 6%
Transcription, 6%
Revenue Cycle, 6%

Common medical coder skills

CPC, 11%
Medical Terminology, 8%
ICD-10-CM, 7%
AHIMA, 7%
Patients, 7%
Clinical Documentation, 5%

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Health Information Management Director
Health Information Management Director vs Medical Coder

Updated January 8, 2025

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