While every sector is impacted by the growth of technology and automation, the human resources need in the medical coding field will not be impacted because of the growing demands of quality. The healthcare revenue cycle management involves CARE of the patient followed by the conversion of clinical documentation in the medical records into codes which are then billed to insurance for provider payment, this helps protect the patient’s private information as well. Coding being the very first step in the revenue cycle management process, automated coding is a step towards processing claims faster due to the introduction of electronic health records (EHRs) and other modern technologies related to medical billing and coding software. It is a tool that improves productivity and increases the accuracy of the highly critical coding process. It helps to save costs and eases the work of coding operations. Medical claims require the use of thousands of codes. Coders work with systems to aid in assigning these codes. By allocating codes to the description of a patient’s health condition, medical coders help to keep the flow of information between the doctor and patient as well as insurance companies. There are two components of billing – one for the physician and another for the hospital services.
India is the most preferred location for outsourcing medical coding services among other competitors, as we provide high-quality jobs at lower labor cost and there is a huge talent pool of skilled, English-speaking professionals. There are no specific courses to study to enter the medical coding industry, but we do have some organizations and educational institutes to train students on medical coding with the mission to deliver high-caliber medical coders to the healthcare BPO industry. To pursue medical coding, the individual must have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree, preferably from a life science background. One must also have the analytical ability to read and analyze medical records and patient details and use the right codes for billing.
There are also several certification programs to help advance in the medical coding career. Like how we have various departments in a hospital, we also have unique certifications for these medical specialties which improve the knowledge and work efficiency. The medical codes are revised every year to include the various new health conditions arising and the advancing surgical/medical technologies across the world.
At present, Indian medical coders are receiving jobs from the United States. However, there are very high chances of outsourcing from other countries such as the UK, Canada, and Australia. Many health care companies are operating across India and are providing various RCM services which include medical coding as the initial process. The medical coding industry is offering handsome packages and career growth in the industry. So, medical coding can offer you a bright future ahead because there is a lot of scope in this emerging industry. Whatever your goals, there are plenty of options for creating a thriving medical billing and coding career—whether you work at home for someone else or yourself, in an office, or seasonally. Anyone would love to work in this interesting & fascinating industry. This is because when you code, you come across many different medical reports and cases which are unique and make you think and act as to what codes will be assigned here.