An essential part of the modern healthcare corps, medical coders are employed across the country, from quiet towns situated off the beaten path to the heart of busy metropolitan areas. Few occupations can boast the diversity of environmental options provided by the medical coding field. Across the country, large and small health-related companies require coders, resulting in a variety of options for job seekers in the field.
The nation’s 5,000 hospitals employ a large number of coders. These facilities include:
- community hospitals
- federal government hospitals
- psychiatric hospitals
- prison facilities
- long-term care hospitals
Other medical coders work at physicians’ offices. As of 2008, more than 660,000 doctors practiced in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Medical coders may find employment in solo practices, single specialty, or multiple specialty groups. Practice types include, but are not limited to:
- internal medicine
- family medicine
- pediatrics
- obstetrics and gynecology
- psychiatric care
- chiropractic care
An annual survey conducted by the Medical Association of Billing in 2011 found that a high percentage of provider offices do their own coding. This is especially true in the nation’s southeast sector where 75% of respondents said they do in-house coding. The north central region has the lowest percentage of provider offices that do their own coding at 45%. While these trends are not the only indicator of job opportunities for medical coders, they do, to a certain extent, demonstrate the geographical distribution of jobs for medical coders who enjoy working in a physician’s office setting.
Opportunities within Professional Service Organizations
Medical coding typically requires little, if any, patient interaction. This allows healthcare providers to outsource coding tasks to one of the nation’s thousands of medical billing service companies. Some billing services employ thousands, while many others employ fewer than 50 workers. Insurance firms also employ medical coders. Whether a medical coder is employed by an insurance company, a private billing service, or a healthcare provider, the coder typically works in a comfortable office environment.
The Medical Coder as a Private Contractor
Some consider the ideal working environment to be a home office. Many individuals are drawn to the medical coding occupation for the entrepreneurial opportunities it provides. Where zoning laws allow, this is a viable home-based career. Medical coders employed as independent contractors enjoy the freedom to balance their personal and professional lives working at home and structuring their own time. The home office can be as simple or sophisticated as the medical coder desires.
Setting up a home office requires that the coder invest in the tools of the trade, including a good computer system, printer, fax, specialty software, insurance forms, reference materials, a clearinghouse for claims transmission, and a room set aside for working undistracted. Home-based medical coders may also require a place to meet clients, though this can often be solved by taking advantage of short-term office rental space.
About our expert. Jan Jacobs has worked in medical offices since the early 1980's. Ms. Jacobs has worked for M.D.'s and D.O.'s in primary care and specialty care. She is employed as a senior medical biller and has been at her current job for nearly 10 years, where she uses three different billing systems.
