Surya Prasad Jan 25, 2024
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Top 5 Medical Coding Certifications in 2024

Medical coders ensure that healthcare professionals are fairly compensated for their services. This becomes essential to protect the stability of healthcare institutions. Medical coding employees can showcase their potential as a medical coder through certifications. Medical coding certifications are essential for building the career of any successful medical coder. Accurate coding is critical to avoid overcharging patients for medical services.

Medical coding is an indeed and trending career in today’s medical industry. Coders obtain medical information from medicos. It is very important to choose a medical coding programme that matches your interests and is respected by professionals in the medical coding industry. In order to pursue a medical coding certificate, joining for any medical coding certification becomes mandatory.  

Best Medical Coding Certifications 

The best medical coding certifications available right now are listed below.

  • Certified Risk Adjustment Coder (CRC)
  • Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) 
  • Certified professional coder (CPC)
  • Certified Outpatient Coder (COC)
  • Certified Inpatient coder (CIC)

1. Certified Risk Adjustment Coder (CRC)

Risk Adjustment Coder ensures that a complete picture of each patient’s health is captured by medical claims. Certified Risk Adjustment Coders (CRCs) play a crucial role in establishing accurate risk scores for patients, which promotes optimal patient care and ethical payer compensation for providers and health plans. 

Earning a CRC certification makes you an expert in CRC coding associated with chronic conditions or multiple chronic conditions. It makes you a master of ICD-10-CM guidelines. As a CRC, they are responsible for ensuring accurate clinical documentation regarding the patient’s health status. They ensure that all clinical diagnoses are reported properly. 

2. Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) 

Coding specialists perform the duty of collecting data from patients' records in hospitals and a variety of similar healthcare institutions. The proficiency of a coding specialist can be easily illustrated by a certified coding specialist. It is a natural process for an already experienced coding specialist who has conducted inpatient and outpatient coding to be certified. Its syllabus includes :

  • Human anatomy
  • Human physiology
  • Medical definitions and terminologies 
  •  Coding procedures
  • Professional claim informations
  • Working practice

3. Certified Professional Coder (CPC)

CPC is very similar to CCS. CPC can help check the competency of a professional coder who specializes in coding related to physicians and non-physicians, physician assistants and nursing students. Medical practitioners who can diagnose the correct code. Individuals who have proven their potential in physician provider documentation, abstract professional provider encounters, CPT coding proficiency, HCPCS level II, ICD-10-CM, and adherence to physician services. 

You must have a minimum of two years of experience in coding before appearing for this exam. The exam pattern focuses on:

  • surgical procedures, 
  • musculoskeletal system, 
  • digestive system, 
  • urinary and nervous system.

Check Out: How to Start a Career as a Medical Coding Specialist?

4. Certified Outpatient Coder (COC)

The demand for certified outpatient coders is making a COC certification a smart career choice in medical coding. If you can grab a COC certification, you can demonstrate your mastery of outpatient hospital coding, payment status indicators, and medicare severity diagnosis-related groups. Coders who have achieved a certified outpatient coder certificate can work in a variety of settings, such as 

  • Hospital emergency departments
  • Outpatient hospital clinics
  • Outpatient therapy departments
  • Outpatient cancer centers
  • Dialysis services
  • Outpatient radiology departments 
  • Ambulatory surgery centers

5. Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC)

Certified Inpatient coding certification is awarded to those individuals who have exhibited exceptional competency in coding inpatient medical claims. It is the only certification exclusively specialized in hospital inpatient coding. Your mastery in abstracting information from the medical record for ICD-10 -CM and ICD-10-PCS coding. It represents expert knowledge in Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Groups. (MS DRGs) and an inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). 

The main difference of a certified inpatient coding from a physician-based coding is that it focuses on services provided by the facility rather than on service provided by the physician. If you pass the CIC exam, you are qualified to work in the rapidly changing medical coding environment of hospital inpatient facilities. CIC certified professionals work in different settings, such as 

  • Acute care facilities
  • Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs)
  • Critical access hospitals (CAHs)
  • Teaching hospitals
  • Inpatient rehab facilities (IRF)
  • Long-term care hospitals (LTCHs)

Why Get Certified in Medical Coding?

Certification can demonstrate to employers that you are an expert in coding. A certified medical coder can also work as chart auditor and supervisor. In this exam, students get access to open code books and medical dictionaries.

 You can also prepare for certification online. The perk of certification courses is that both online and offline courses can be taken as desired by students. Stacking your certifications is the best methodology for increasing your pay potential throughout your career. 

Duration of Course and Eligibility

It can take up to 1-3 years to learn a medical coding course. Some courses can be completed in a time span of 5 or can take up to 20 months. Any graduate or postgraduate from a science degree can take the course immediately.

Medical Coding Pay Structure

Sometimes, the number of patients who approach the health sector can also influence the salary of a certified medical coder. Salaries in cities are always higher than salaries in rural areas. Entry level courses can provide you with a minimum salary of 35,000 $ a year, for a fresher. Experienced coders can receive a salary of 58,000 $ a year. You can work either as an exempt or nonexempt employee. 

Countries like Switzerland, Brazil, Singapore and New Zealand are paying coders exceptionally well.  Average salary for coders in the UAE is around AED 11,000 per month. They also make an additional cash compensation of AED 6,000 Certified medical coders is very high in demand. You can also get paid per case or per claim. 

Conclusion 

The main purpose behind certification is that it helps you go higher on your pay scale 

Certification can lead to better opportunities for growth. The average lifespan of a coding course is above 30 years and taking a certification course is worth it. Learning a new course in just 4 weeks can help you gain confidence in your newfound skills. Along With increasing your potential salary, obtaining a medical coding certification will benefit your career.

Locations Where Edoxi Offers Medical Coding Course

Here is the list of other major locations where Edoxi offers Medical Coding Course

Medical Coding Course in Qatar |  Medical Coding Course in Muscat | Medical Coding Course in Dubai  | Medical Coding Course in Bahrain | Medical Coding Course in Kuwait | Medical Coding Course in London | Medical Coding Course in Riyadh | Medical Coding Course in Jeddah | Medical Coding Course in Dammam | Medical Coding Training in Sharjah 

 

Medical Coding Trainer

Surya Prasad is a Certified Professional Coder with years of experience. Currently, she holds the position of Medical Coding Tutor at Edoxi Training Institute in Dubai, UAE, where she imparts her knowledge and expertise to aspiring professionals in the healthcare industry. With her extensive training and certifications, Surya Prasad is well-equipped to provide valuable insights and guidance to students and professionals pursuing careers in medical coding and healthcare management.

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