5 Major Tips on How to Increase Your Medical Coding and Billing Salary

A medical biller is a medical specialist who obtained a national certification in medical billing and has the skills in processing insurance claims while a medical coder does the coding for insurance claims and is a different profession.

Medical billing and coding are two of the most sought after professional in the medical industry and they are very likely to increase in demand for at least 3% every year from now till 2016. Thus it is not surprising to find that increasing medical billing and coding programs and classes are offered by a lot of Universities and Schools over the world today. The main objective of offering these programs is to “produce” as many qualified medical billers and coders as possible to fulfill the needs of the society in the next 5 years.

Theoretically, the salary for a medical biller and coder generally falls between USD26,000 and USD 33,000 annually, however there are a lot of influencing factors which may affect the salary of these medical professionals to some degree. Now let us review some of the key factors which are highly affecting the salary of the medical biller and coder.

i. First of all is the geographical location where you are working in. In cities where the cost of living is high, generally the salary for most of the occupations existed there will tend to be higher. There is no exception for the case of medical biller and coder.

ii. The organization where you are working in also plays a major role in determining your salary as a medical coder and biller. Should you are working in a large government hospital or nursing house, then you might be paid better than if you are working in a private specialist centre or a small insurance corporation. The size of the corporations or institutions does matters here.

iii. Inevitably, the higher the education level on medical billing and coding which one managed to get and passed successfully from the accredited colleges or Universities offering for the medical billing and coding program, the higher the chances of one to demand for a better salary. The same applies on the amount of training and working experience which one managed to obtain before coming for this new role. The more extensive your experience and exposure in this field, the greater your chances in getting a higher salary because of your competitiveness and higher market value in the industry.

iv. Letting yourself to get into the next level of specialization in the medical field is one great way to boost your skill sets, which may eventually lead you to a higher salary range. One may choose to specialize in cancer registry, physiological registry, mental sickness registration and many more.

v. Te type of industry also plays a part in deciding the salary of these medical professions. Below are the top 4 paying industries in their descending order;
– Pharmaceutical
– Professional, Labor or Political Organizations
– Federal Government
– Business support services