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The differences between medical coders and medical coding technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a medical coder and a medical coding technician. Additionally, a medical coder has an average salary of $51,563, which is higher than the $35,307 average annual salary of a medical coding technician.
The top three skills for a medical coder include CPC, medical terminology and ICD-10-CM. The most important skills for a medical coding technician are medical billing, data entry, and front desk.
| Medical Coder | Medical Coding Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $51,563 | $35,307 |
| Hourly rate | $24.79 | $16.97 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 51,316 | 67,197 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 37% | Associate Degree, 30% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
The job of a medical coding technician is to assist in the management of insurance claims, payments, and invoices. Your day-to-day duties may include reviewing claims data to ensure that the assigned codes meet the insurance and legal rules, understanding the diagnosis of patients and medical procedures that have been performed, and extracting information from documentation such as the name of the physician and the date of the procedure. Additionally, abmedical coding technician also follows up with patients and insurance firms regarding outstanding bills.
Medical coders and medical coding technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Coder | Medical Coding Technician | |
| Average salary | $51,563 | $35,307 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $70,000 | Between $28,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Trenton, NJ | - |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | - |
| Best paying company | Meta | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a medical coder and a medical coding technician in terms of educational background:
| Medical Coder | Medical Coding Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 37% | Associate Degree, 30% |
| Most common major | Health Care Administration | Health Care Administration |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between medical coders' and medical coding technicians' demographics:
| Medical Coder | Medical Coding Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 8.6% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |