Transcriptionist vs medical coding technician

The differences between transcriptionists and medical coding technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a transcriptionist has an average salary of $44,118, which is higher than the $35,307 average annual salary of a medical coding technician.

The top three skills for a transcriptionist include transcription, patients and dictation. The most important skills for a medical coding technician are medical billing, data entry, and front desk.

Transcriptionist vs medical coding technician overview

	Transcriptionist	Medical Coding Technician
Yearly salary	$44,118	$35,307
Hourly rate	$21.21	$16.97
Growth rate	-7%	11%
Number of jobs	270	67,197
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 30%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	-	12

What does a transcriptionist do?

A transcriptionist is responsible for listening to audio files and converting them to a written document, following transcribing rules and processes depending on the clients' specifications. Transcriptionists must also have excellent researching skills, especially to understand foreign terminologies and jargon, ensuring the written transcription accuracy. They also review drafts from various speech software to identify inconsistencies and revise speech discrepancies. A transcriptionist must have excellent communication skills, including written and listening mastery and time-management, submitting work on deadlines with the highest efficiency.

What does a medical coding technician do?

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.

Transcriptionist vs medical coding technician salary

Transcriptionists and medical coding technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Transcriptionist	Medical Coding Technician
Average salary	$44,118	$35,307
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $57,000	Between $28,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between transcriptionist and medical coding technician education

There are a few differences between a transcriptionist and a medical coding technician in terms of educational background:

	Transcriptionist	Medical Coding Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 30%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Transcriptionist vs medical coding technician demographics

Here are the differences between transcriptionists' and medical coding technicians' demographics:

	Transcriptionist	Medical Coding Technician
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 11.3% Female, 88.7%	Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 14.4% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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%

Differences between transcriptionist and medical coding technician duties and responsibilities

Transcriptionist example responsibilities.

Manage two ambulance sets, two ambulances, and specialize high-angle rescue equipment value at $500K+.
Transcribe cardiology, urology, and oncology reports.
Transcribe medical office dictation from outpatient facilities (internal medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, radiology).
Transcribe a variety of medical reports for different physician practices including specialties of psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery and orthopedics.
Transcribe dictation for MRI scans of the body.
Job description: medical transcription of ultrasound, biopsy, and mammography reports.

Medical coding technician example responsibilities.

Manage health records while applying ICD-10 coding to update and process insurance claims for time and accuracy to various insurance companies.
Assign appropriate ICD-9-CM and CPT-4 codes in compliance with recognize coding principles and department policies.
Remain current on medical coding guidelines and HIPAA laws and regulations.
Reconcile clinical notes, patient encounter form, and health information for compliance with HIPAA rules.
Audit ROI program quarterly to ensure deadlines are completed and proper procedures for legal and personal requests are followed.
Train team members in all ROI processes, make independent decisions base on the provisions of these privacy laws and regulations.

Transcriptionist vs medical coding technician skills

Common transcriptionist skills

Transcription, 25%
Patients, 8%
Dictation, 8%
Transcription Services, 6%
Patient Care, 5%
WPM, 4%

Common medical coding technician skills

Medical Billing, 14%
Data Entry, 12%
Front Desk, 10%
CPC, 9%
ICD-10-CM, 7%
Transcription, 6%

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Transcriptionist
Transcriptionist vs Medical Coding Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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