How to hire a medical coder

How to hire a medical coder, step by step

Here's a step-by-step medical coder hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a medical coder job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new medical coder
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a medical coder do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The medical coder hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect medical coder also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of medical coders and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Medical Coder	Description	Hourly rate
   Medical Coder	Medical records and health information technicians, commonly referred to as health information technicians, organize and manage health information data. They ensure its quality, accuracy, accessibility, and security in both paper and electronic systems... Show more	$17-33
   Health Information Technician	A health information technician is primarily responsible for managing and handling patient information, ensuring accuracy and confidentiality. They coordinate with various health care workers to gather patient data, laboratory results, test findings, and medical histories, encoding them in clinical databases in a timely and efficient manner... Show more	$12-21
   Records Manager	The records manager is an important position that handles the creation, organization, and disposal of records. They are also responsible for establishing systems for their management and the maintenance, verification, and evaluation of extant systems... Show more	$15-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CPC
   • Medical Terminology
   • ICD-10-CM
   • AHIMA
   • Patients
   • Clinical Documentation
   • AAPC
   • Surgery
   • Medicare
   • CPT-4
   • Procedure Codes
   • DRG
   • E/M
   • Productivity Standards

   Check all skills

   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.

   More medical coder duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your medical coder job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A medical coder salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a medical coder in South Dakota may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level medical coder usually earns less than a senior-level medical coder. Additionally, a medical coder with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average medical coder salary

   $51,563yearly

   $24.79 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level medical coder salary

   $37,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average medical coder salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New Jersey	$63,612	$31
   2	Washington	$60,642	$29
   3	Oregon	$60,366	$29
   4	Nevada	$57,455	$28
   5	New York	$53,651	$26
   6	Pennsylvania	$53,333	$26
   7	North Carolina	$53,313	$26
   8	Rhode Island	$52,164	$25
   9	Maryland	$51,576	$25
   10	Connecticut	$50,973	$25
   11	Mississippi	$50,236	$24
   12	Montana	$49,798	$24
   13	Arizona	$49,691	$24
   14	Texas	$49,261	$24
   15	Virginia	$49,203	$24
   16	Massachusetts	$49,146	$24
   17	Wyoming	$48,502	$23
   18	Colorado	$48,399	$23
   19	Ohio	$48,356	$23
   20	Illinois	$47,757	$23

   Average medical coder salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$121,462	$58.40	8
   2	Adobe	$108,171	$52.01
   3	ResMed	$90,596	$43.56	1
   4	Biogen	$88,910	$42.75
   5	Conviva	$84,135	$40.45
   6	Edifecs	$76,935	$36.99
   7	Accenture	$72,923	$35.06
   8	Guidehouse	$72,916	$35.06	67
   9	RGP	$72,266	$34.74
   10	City of Middletown	$72,200	$34.71
   11	Children's Hospital Los Angeles	$70,802	$34.04
   12	Perkins&Will	$70,299	$33.80
   13	Baystate Health	$70,141	$33.72
   14	Tenet Healthcare	$69,926	$33.62	30
   15	Columbia University in the City of New York	$69,657	$33.49
   16	Massachusetts General Hospital	$69,426	$33.38
   17	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$69,160	$33.25
   18	The University of Chicago	$69,010	$33.18	5
   19	University of California-Berkeley	$68,995	$33.17
   20	Miriam Hospital	$68,861	$33.11

4. Writing a medical coder job description

   A job description for a medical coder role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a medical coder job description:

   Medical coder job description example

   $5,000 dollar sign on bonus! Remote work for this position may be approved based on policy and business considerations.
   
   Job Summary Assigns correct procedure and diagnosis codes. Validates and adjusts charges. Validates and adjusts charges. Responsible for abstracting data from medical records and working collaboratively with financial and clinical team members to ensure accurate financial billing. Provides education and training regarding coding guidelines to appropriate team members of their specialty area. Essential Functions
   Consistently Meets Quarterly Productivity Standard:
   • 95%
   Consistently Meets Quarterly Quality Standard:
   • 95%
   Consistently Completes Quarterly Mandatory Coding Educations:
   • 15 CEU - (Formal/Informal) Codes/charge outpatient records (Ambulatory Surgery, Observation, Emergency and Ancillary) according to coding guidelines and conventions. Assigns diagnoses and procedures for billing, data retrieval and research purposes, using numerical codes of ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM/PCS and CPT-4 coding. Provides education and training regarding coding guidelines of specialty area to clinical and non-clinical staff. Communicates, collaborates and acts as a team player with others in order to ensure continuity of services. Optimize codes for reporting and generates APCs for all outpatient records. Abides by the Standards of Ethical Coding as set forth by the American Health Information Management Association and adheres to official coding guidelines. Participate in process improvement activities including but not limited to assuring accounts that cannot be coded are held for valid reasons and documented accurately utilizing Unbilled Reason Codes (URCs)/GQ Flags Must attend all staff meetings required by Management Qualifications Required High School Diploma or equivalent 2 years of relevant experience Coding Required CRT-Coding Specialist (CCS) - AHIMA American Health Information Management Association required Or CRT-Professional Coder - AAPC American Academy of Professional Coders required Or CRT-Outpatient Coder, Certified (COC) - UNKNOWN Unknown required Or CRT-Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) - AAPC American Academy of Professional Coders required Or CRT-Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) - AHIMA American Health Information Management Association required Primary Location SITE - Business Service Center - th St - Grand Rapids Department Name Coding-Inpatient Employment Type Full time Shift Day (United States of America) Weekly Scheduled Hours 40 Hours of Work 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Days Worked Tuesday to Saturday OR Sunday to Thursday Weekend Frequency Every weekend CURRENT SPECTRUM HEALTH TEAM MEMBERS - Please apply through Find Jobs from your Workday team member account. This career site is for Non-Spectrum Health team members only. Spectrum Health is committed to providing a safe environment for our team members, patients, visitors and community. That is why we require a drug-free workplace and various vaccinations as a requirement for employment.
   
   Spectrum Health grants equal employment opportunity to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, religion, genetic information, marital status, height, weight, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other legally protected category.
   
   An interconnected, collaborative culture where all are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, is vital to the health of our organization. As a health system, we advocate for equity as we care for our patients, our communities, and each other. From workshops that develop cultural intelligence, to our inclusion resource groups for people to find community and empowerment at work, we are dedicated to ongoing resources that advance our values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all that we do. We invite those that share in our commitment to join our team.
   
   If you are a qualified individual with a disability, you may request assistance in completing the application process by calling . We are committed to granting reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable laws.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find medical coders for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any medical coders they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level medical coders with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your medical coder job on Zippia to find and attract quality medical coder candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit medical coders, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new medical coder

   Once you've selected the best medical coder candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new medical coder first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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