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Medical Coder Job Description

medical coder job description

Medical coders work in healthcare facilities. They are responsible for converting information related to patients into different codes. This helps in managing codes that are essential in the documentation of health insurance claims. The medical coders help in processing the insurance claims and reimbursements for treatments related to healthcare.

medical coder job description

Job Description – Medical Coder

The candidate must be well versed and proficient with assisting the healthcare facility by documentation coding for patients. They ensure insurance claims are processed timely through the insurance organization. Medical coders assign different terminologies for documentation regarding patients. They should be aware of international classifications of different diseases. The medical coder also needs to assign the different payment classifications called Ambulatory payments. They should also assign codes related to a medical diagnosis that helps in providing the right treatment to patients.

Skills Required – Medical Coder

  • They require strong decision-making skills.
  • They also need proper accuracy.
  • The medical coder requires motivation to work in the health care sector.
  • They also pay attention to detail.
  • They should also have people management skills to work well in this role.

Job Responsibilities – Medical Coder

  • They extract relevant information related to the records of patients.
  • They also connect with physicians and other medical practitioners to understand the details about patients.
  • The medical coder also ensures all documents are updated.
  • They also ensure no information is missing from the medical records.
  • They also assign medical codes to the documents.
  • The medical coder also ensures all documents are grammatically corrected.
  • They should also ensure error-free documentation.
  • They also perform chart audits,
  • The medical coder also trains medical staff and doctors on medical coding.
  • They also inform the supervisor about issues and concerns within the computer program.
  • They also ensure proper compliance is followed while medical policies are formulated and different regulations are also followed.

Requirements – Medical Coder

  • They should hold a high school diploma.
  • They need 2 years of relevant experience as a medical coder.
  • The medical coder also needs a certification from the American Academy of Professional Coders.
  • They should also be excellent with computer literacy skills.
  • They also need strong people management skills.
  • The medical coder should also have excellent organizational skills.
  • They should also be able to keep all information confidential always.

Frequently Asked Questions

1 What is a medical coder?

Ans. A medical coder is a translator who translates medical information related to patients in universal codes which are required by an insurance organization while processing a medical claim for the same. The medical coder must use appropriate codes each time they enter a piece of information related to patients in the system.

2 What kind of skills does a medical coder need?

Ans. A medical coder requires the following skills:

  • They should pay proper attention to detail.
  • They need excellent communication skills.
  • The medical coder should also be good at customer service.
  • They also require computer literacy.
  • They should also maintain their accounts well.
  • The medical coder should also be aware of medical terminologies.
  • They should also have problem-solving skills.
  • They should also be excellent team players.

3 What makes a good medical coder?

Ans. They should have excellent research skills; they should ensure everything gets coded correctly in the computer system. The medical coder must also ensure that medical documents are fed into the system in an error-free manner. They should also have strong analytical skills to analyze each document before they enter the information in the computer of the health care facility.

4 Is medical coding a stressful activity?

Ans. Medical coders need to handle tough situations at work in a calm manner. they need to ensure that all codes must be entered properly without a hassle. They should work at least 40 hours each week. If they demonstrate polite and calm behavior at work. They will enjoy their work as medical coders.

5 Where can employers advertise for the job of a medical coder?

Ans. Health care facilities like medical centers and hospitals use the career page of their official website to advertise for this role. Employers can also use their medical networks for recruiting such medical coders. It is an extremely responsible job. The candidate must work compassionately with no room to make an error or mistakes.

6 How does a candidate prepare for his interview as a medical coder?

Ans. The candidate should highlight his previous job experience. He should have relevant certifications as a medical coder. The medical coder should also watch interviews for this profile on YouTube to prepare well for the interview. He should be able to highlight his skills appropriately.

7 Why is a medical coder a critical role?

Ans. Medical aid and treatments largely depend on insurance claims to reduce expenditure on expensive treatments for healthcare. Thus medical coder provides universal codes to insurance organizations based on which the medical claims get processed. This is a critical function because it has to be performed without any errors. An error in the code means the insurance claim will be put on hold for the patient. Medical coders help doctors and medical staff to feed in patient information in the computer of the hospital or the health care facility. They also assist in the accurate billing process at the hospital.

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