How To Become A Contract Medical Coder

The U.S. Based on the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, there is a predicted 7% increase in employment growth for medical record professionals, which includes medical coders, between 2021 and 2031. Considering the growing practice issues such as non-compliance claims leading to reduced revenue rates and increasing healthcare industry updates, professionals need qualified coders to stabilize the practice's financial flow. In order to meet the advancing demands of coding and billing, providers have access to a variety of ways, one of which is medical coding outsourcing.
Contract medical coders have recently been on the rise to cater to the demands of various specialities. These professionals are needed to address staffing shortages, coding blocks, system upgrades, and other issues. Hiring these experts can yield more as they can work flexibly per the project's specific requirements and time by utilizing particular expertise and training. In this comprehensive guide, we have explored the essentials of becoming a crucial figure of practice for those who aspire to serve the field and establish a career in medical coding. It will help you understand the significant role of contract clinical coders in healthcare practice, the required certifications, and the perks of becoming a certified contract medical coder. You can also visit our guide on the top skills needed for every medical or clinical coding associate have a look!

What Does A Contract Medical Coder Do?

The significant role of a medical coder inside healthcare facilities is inevitable as these professionals support the entire revenue process by efficiently ensuring data accuracy and completeness. Thus, patients and providers need qualified medical coders to proceed smoothly with the claims. The process begins every time a patient visits the hospital and receives certain services and procedures. The job of a medical coder is to convert patient data into standardized codes, as it is mandatory for billing management.
Maintaining patient records and accurately assigning codes to operations performed by providers are among the duties involved in their particular field of work. However, the statistical analysis and thorough monitoring of medical records and code assignment require medical coders to ensure that they follow the latest rules and updates from various standard code sets, including:

• International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
• Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
• Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)

A contract medical coder, on the other hand, performs differently from the regular coders in healthcare. Working independently from the specific healthcare organization’s employment, these professionals work temporarily or on a contractual basis. The significant reasons why healthcare organization providers need contract coding professionals are their practice staff shortages or when they want to hire specialists with specific coding expertise.
Depending on the needs of the project, company, or practice, the contract may be for a few weeks, months, or even years. Furthermore, the facilities own coding contractors to work on-site for training. Recently, contract medical coders have had multiple opportunities to work remotely with various clients or assignments throughout the year. As per the increasing demands of the industry, contract medical coders must stay up-to-date with coding guidelines and regulations to ensure accuracy and compliance with practice. To demonstrate their proficiency in the field, coders can acquire specific certifications such as the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) credential.

How To Become A Contract Medical Coder?

The requirements of a contract medical coder are set by the facilities for which you negotiate your contract. They usually seek higher-level or less educated contractors per the demand of their various project specifications. However, experts highlight that many companies, including AMN Healthcare, ask for the coder's three years of experience along with specific certifications required in the field, such as:

Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT)

• RHITs can primarily serve in hospitals but are allowed to work in diverse healthcare settings.
• The settings of their professions include physician practices, nursing homes, mental health facilities, home health agencies, and public health agencies.
• These are versatile professionals employed in any organization using patient data, such as pharmaceutical companies, law firms, and health product vendors.

Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA)

• RHIAs serve as significant connectors between care providers, payers, and patients.
• They possess extensive knowledge in healthcare's medical, administrative, ethical, and legal aspects, preventing patient data privacy.
• RHIAs work across various healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, long-term care, mental health, and ambulatory care.
• These skilled professionals are employed in non-patient care settings like managed care, insurance companies, software vendors, consulting services, government agencies, education, and pharmaceutical companies.

Certified Coding Specialist (CCS)

• Coding specialists classify medical data from patient records in hospitals and multiple other healthcare settings.
• The CCS credential attests to a practitioner's proven skills in data quality, accuracy, and coding proficiency.
• It is a logical advancement for professionals with experience coding inpatient and outpatient records.
• Coded data generated by coding specialists is crucial for hospitals and care providers to secure reimbursement from insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid.
• Moreover, researchers and public health officials rely heavily on the coded data to analyze patterns and explore new interventions.

Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification from AAPC

• The CPC is the leading certification for medical coding in physician office settings.
• The exam assesses competencies for coding services by physicians and non-physician providers.
• CPC-certified individuals demonstrate expertise in documentation review, encounter abstraction, and proficiency in CPT, HCPCS Level II, and ICD-10-CM coding, along with compliance and regulatory requirements for medical services.
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Other Certifications Significant To Promote Your Coding Skills

Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC)

Acquiring the CIC Certification will help you gain expertise in how to apply ICD-10-PCS and Medicare-Severity Diagnostic-Related (MS DRG). Moreover, with this certification, you can be efficient at reporting inpatient tests, diagnoses, and procedures.

Certified Outpatient Coder (COC)

Pursuing COC Certification and training helps practitioners gain fluency in applying CPT, HCPCS Level II, and ICD-10-CM for coding inpatient facility services to insurance companies. You can also get this certification as a career tool in an Ambulatory surgical center or outpatient billing unit.

Certified Risk Adjustment Coder (CRC)

Contract medical coders must enhance their scope of understanding regarding multiple fields and knowledge in risk adjustment models such as Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) in medical service. Gaining knowledge in this area through CRC will help you understand the chronic illness and disability payment system (CDPS) model used for providing medical aid.

Why Do You Need To Become A Certified Medical Coder?

In order to gain the industry's and professionals' trust for serving their practice, the wise decision is to adhere to the golden standard, which is acquiring the position of Certified Professional Coder CPC. The ever-changing healthcare requirements such as ICD-11 on the surface and increasing penalties for non-compliant medical billing and coding are significant signs of worry for professionals to stay sharp at taking measures such as hiring a certified contract medical coder. CPCs have recently got providers on track to reducing denials and quicker reimbursements, as they are experts in evaluation, management principles, surgical coding and documentation, and coding standards. Moreover, the healthcare industry and care facilities rely on the expertise of professional contract coders when it comes to getting practices compliant with regulatory rules because they are well-versed in profitability and trained in multiple techniques to code provider diagnosis and service code correctly.
Enjoy a sustainable career in healthcare as it offers various medical coder jobs for certified professionals. Hiring a degree or certifications will pave the way for you to enter and facilitate the specialty as it demands all your skills and training to expand. You can acquire on-site medical speciality jobs or hit on specific remote contract medical coder jobs per your primary choice. MedsIT Nexus is all-ear and always supportive to guide you on the best path to excel in your career and keep exploring the hidden capabilities for serving coding facilities.

Lift Up Your Medical Coding Value With MedsIT Nexus Coding Competence

MedsIT Nexus Medical Billing and Coding services rise among the best contract medical coding companies. Join us to upgrade your practice if you seek reliable outsourcing on a contractual basis and get unique setbacks while contracting with our experts. We are experienced contract coding service providers with extensive industry knowledge to handle all medical coding challenges efficiently and within a specific time. Our qualified medical coders are up-to-date on CMS and AMA guidelines for various diagnostic and procedural coding. Considering your practice requirements and expertise in different service areas, we commit to helping your coding practice reduce errors, maintain operational efficiency, and optimize revenue.
Our cost-effective solutions are at your disposal for:

• Ongoing coding
• Multiple speciality coding
• One time coding
• Your staff's back-up support in shortages
• Analysis and auditing in coding
• Fewer coding backlogs
• Medical chart reviews