The primary deliverable of a medical coder is the extraction of information from a patient’s medical records and their conversion into an industry standardized medical code with overarching acceptance. The medical transcriptions available in hospitals and clinics are transformed into universally recognized codes pertaining to areas of interest such as drugs, diagnosis, and procedures. The codes are then used in conjunction with medical billing and insurance settlement purposes.
Career opportunities in India for medical coders
Online Assignments from the US and UK
India has gradually emerged as a major healthcare hub with coding being identified as the most favored career choice by medical professionals. In actual fact, 80 percent of US companies contract out services to India. With decent exposure in both IT and healthcare fields, medical coders have discovered a fresh avenue to aggrandize their career goals. Abundant growth opportunities and a secure work environment are what professionals look ahead to in this specific domain of expertise.
Certified Professional Coder
The principal job responsibilities which a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) does include:
- Oversees medical coding process in healthcare agencies
- Ensures compliance of medical coding with every medical coding law and regulation
- Makes sure medical coding is leveraged for repayable expenses when needed
- Provides regular, surgical, or hospital coding as and when appropriate
- Communicates effectively about rejected claims or procedures to patients
- Maintains supreme confidentiality of medical records
- Stays up-to-date with the latest changes made in insurance coding
- Engages in an independent working practice
- Reports to a manager or supervisor on an optional basis
- Interacts with doctors, nurses, and other hospital staffs
- Works during normal business hours and seldom works overtime or on weekends.
The average pay for a medical coder is roughly INR 250,000 per annum.
Jobs in Medical Insurance Companies
A typical medical coding course qualifies a candidate to know how to convert medical symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, procedures and drug recommendations into codes. Medical billing incorporates the process by which insurance carriers and patients are billed for procedures and office visits. Their job involves the submission of documents to insurance companies for sundry purposes namely research, data collection, billing, payment and quality assurance.
Reimbursement Specialist
The financial success of private health care facilities and medical practices rely heavily on the prowess of medical coders. With greater skills in discerning relevant diagnosis for patients come bigger insurance reimbursements to the physician. This specialized field churns out medical coders who develop proficiency after a meticulously imparted medical coding course training program followed by a certification process.
Coding Specialist
In medical coding, alphanumeric codes are individually assigned to all diagnosis and procedures which a patient encounters. It’s a spiraling industry which has opened up vast potentials and scope for both employers and job seekers.
Patient Account Representative
When a patient is suffering from a chronic ailment, the need for a dedicated patient account representative (PAR) becomes imperative. Ideally, a PAR performs:
- The administration of billing and payment related issues for assigned patients
- The accurate calculation and effective submission of patient invoices
- The dispatch and recording of claims, payments and outstanding notices
- The mediation in creating customized payment plans which service providers can accede to and patients can afford
- The duties related to response for billing and payment related inquiries, resolution of billing issues, collection of payments, or an assistance to patients while submitting insurance claims.
Certified PARs offer their service in varied environments like private and public hospitals, offices of physicians, clinics, specialty medical centers, outpatient facilities, insurance suppliers, rehabilitation hubs, etc.
Electronic Claims Processor
With the help of software, an electronic claim processor helps validate all shreds of information written on a medical claim submitted by a patient seeking reimbursement from the insurance company. Nowadays almost all leading hospitals and insurance service providers have their own proprietary software meant to handle and process claims through seamless feeding of data and generation of records. A claim processor thoroughly reviews every claim to avoid any missing, incomplete or incorrect information. Moreover, a processor is supposed to carefully keep records of claims and follow up on lost or lapsed cases.
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