Medical coder vs medical scribe

The differences between medical coders and medical scribes 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 scribe. Additionally, a medical coder has an average salary of $51,563, which is higher than the $30,045 average annual salary of a medical scribe.

The top three skills for a medical coder include CPC, medical terminology and ICD-10-CM. The most important skills for a medical scribe are patients, medical terminology, and excellent organizational.

Medical coder vs medical scribe overview

	Medical Coder	Medical Scribe
Yearly salary	$51,563	$30,045
Hourly rate	$24.79	$14.44
Growth rate	11%	16%
Number of jobs	51,316	80,035
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	45	37
Years of experience	12	12

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.

What does a medical scribe do?

As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR. Medical scribes can be held as data custodians, medical assistants, and nurses to focus on patient in-take and care throughout clinic hours. In addition, they manage patient flow through the clinic and increase productivity to cater to more patients.

Medical coder vs medical scribe salary

Medical coders and medical scribes have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Coder	Medical Scribe
Average salary	$51,563	$30,045
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $70,000	Between $23,000 And $38,000
Highest paying City	Trenton, NJ	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Meta	Boston Medical Center
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between medical coder and medical scribe education

There are a few differences between a medical coder and a medical scribe in terms of educational background:

	Medical Coder	Medical Scribe
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	-

Medical coder vs medical scribe demographics

Here are the differences between medical coders' and medical scribes' demographics:

	Medical Coder	Medical Scribe
Average age	45	37
Gender ratio	Male, 13.2% Female, 86.8%	Male, 28.4% Female, 71.6%
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, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	9%	6%

Differences between medical coder and medical scribe duties and responsibilities

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.

Medical scribe example responsibilities.

Manage sensitive and confidential materials such as patient health records following HIPAA regulations.
Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Rotate in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, and burn medicine departments
Transcribe patient orders including laboratory tests results, radiology test findings, medications, allergies.
Utilize PC and LIS to enter and retrieve patient data, includes verifying orders and retrieving results using HIPAA compliance.
Perform Phlebotomy procedures on patients.

Medical coder vs medical scribe skills

Common medical coder skills

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

Common medical scribe skills

Patients, 18%
Medical Terminology, 17%
Excellent Organizational, 10%
Physician Assistants, 8%
Emergency Medicine, 6%
HIPAA, 4%

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Medical Coder vs Medical Scribe

Updated January 8, 2025

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