Medical language specialist vs reimbursement specialist

The differences between medical language specialists and reimbursement specialists 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 language specialist and a reimbursement specialist. Additionally, a medical language specialist has an average salary of $47,117, which is higher than the $38,273 average annual salary of a reimbursement specialist.

The top three skills for a medical language specialist include transcription, discharge summaries and dictation. The most important skills for a reimbursement specialist are patients, customer service, and appeals.

Medical language specialist vs reimbursement specialist overview

	Medical Language Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Yearly salary	$47,117	$38,273
Hourly rate	$22.65	$18.40
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	71,209	32,292
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	12	12

What does a medical language specialist do?

A Medical Language Specialist transcribes medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners. They listen to recorded dictations of medical professionals and turn them into diagnostic test results, articles, and other documents.

What does a reimbursement specialist do?

A reimbursement specialist is responsible for analyzing insurance documents, processing reimbursement claims, and releasing accurate billing statements for insurance claims. Reimbursement specialists must have excellent analytical skills, especially on performing clerical tasks to evaluate insurance cases, investigate cases, and update the account information of the clients on the database. They should also have impeccable communication skills and understanding of the insurance processes to be able to coordinate with the clients, explaining the procedures of their claims accurately, and coordinate with the insurance management to improve the claims processes.

Medical language specialist vs reimbursement specialist salary

Medical language specialists and reimbursement specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Language Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Average salary	$47,117	$38,273
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $61,000	Between $29,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	-	Lynchburg, VA
Highest paying state	-	Virginia
Best paying company	-	Novartis
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between medical language specialist and reimbursement specialist education

There are a few differences between a medical language specialist and a reimbursement specialist in terms of educational background:

	Medical Language Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	Duke University	University of Pennsylvania

Medical language specialist vs reimbursement specialist demographics

Here are the differences between medical language specialists' and reimbursement specialists' demographics:

	Medical Language Specialist	Reimbursement Specialist
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 7.3% Female, 92.7%	Male, 15.2% Female, 84.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.9% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.1% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between medical language specialist and reimbursement specialist duties and responsibilities

Medical language specialist example responsibilities.

Prepare budget and manage department's employees' time, attendance and payroll process.
Create documentation education classes to general surgery residents, increasing the leveling of reporting which lead to increase revenues.
Transcribe and edit for specialties including: cardiology, pulmonology, urology, pediatrics, psychiatry, oncology, etc.
Utilize extensive knowledge of medical terminology while following AAMT and HIPAA guidelines.
Type medical transcription from all medical specialties, combine with comprehensive self-pace dictation system.
Utilize voice-record dictation to transcribe and edit medical reports for several acute care hospitals.

Reimbursement specialist example responsibilities.

Manage the EDI clearinghouse rejections.
Process department payroll, order supplies, and manage petty-cash funds.
Manage use of various systems, such as MEDITECH, Cerner, WebNow, and yield-base follow-up tool.
Manage cases by aggressively directing the litigation process.
Negotiate fee structure for manage care contracts on acute and rehabilitation facilities.
Research medical coding ICD-9, ICD-10, HCPCS and CPT-4 to let client know the outcome of medical claim.

Medical language specialist vs reimbursement specialist skills

Common medical language specialist skills

Transcription, 11%
Discharge Summaries, 8%
Dictation, 8%
Patient Histories, 5%
Medical Reports, 5%
Acute Care Hospital, 5%

Common reimbursement specialist skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 9%
Appeals, 6%
CPT, 5%
Medicare, 4%
Medicaid, 4%

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Medical Language Specialist
Medical Language Specialist vs Reimbursement Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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