Medical Coding: A Fastest Growing Career for Non Science Graduates

Many non science graduates have hard time in getting job in healthcare industry since most of the employers demand science graduates. Companies who take outsourcing work from US, Europe, Middle East and Australia provide jobs to 4 million people in India but not all healthcare related.

Medical Coding is one of the popular career option for Commerce and Arts graduates. The main reason is the diversity of the skills requirements.

Healthcare Finance and Reimbursement

Since the Medial Coding business is integral part of Healthcare Finance, just reading of report and coding is not enough, understanding of guidelines is also necessary. Many non science graduates outperform in such instances because of critical thinking ability to interpret nonmedical terminologies.

Although engineering and other fields graduates have a similar opportunity because of healthcare digitalization and the use of technology the number of people required is less compared to other departments.

Salary

The average salary for a fresher start from 15k-20k per month depending upon the type of coding. Generally, training and certification decide the placement and role.

Experienced coder salary range between 50k to 80k per month according to the type of specialty involved

Training

Medical Coding training courses are available online and offline both and span between 1 to 3 months. On Job Training (OJT) is also an option in many companies.

Since most of the companies focus on the delivery of the projects so they do not put resources and time to train the trainee when the number of requirements is more.

AAPC offers a wide variety of training online and offline with multiple combos of training and certification together.

Some experienced professionals in the coding industry offer training all across India.

Coding Certification

Many employers demand for certification according to project need and some of them train internally and sponsor the certification.

There are multiple certification types available in the industry but below two are in demand:

CPC^® (Certified Professional Coder) which is conducted by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC)

CCS^® (Certified Coding Specialist) which is conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

There are some lower versions of certifications, such as CCA, advance, and speciality (COC, CIC, CDEO and many more) as well.

Medical Coding job is becoming popular among Nursing professionals as well.