Medical Insurance Coding Specialist

Types of Degrees Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical insurance coding specialist/coder graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	5,922
Basic Certificate	2,688
Associate Degree	1,539

What Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to medical insurance coding specialist/coder and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder Majors

Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

Skills for Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder Majors

medical insurance coding specialist/coder majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder Majors

A major in medical insurance coding specialist/coder will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medical insurance coding specialist/coder:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical Assistants	29.0%	$33,610
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians	13.5%	$40,350

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Medical Insurance Coding Specialist?

This major is dominated by women with about 94% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical insurance coding specialist/coder majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	28
Black or African American	308
Hispanic or Latino	269
White	699
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	232

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder. About 0.2% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $34,540 to $44,010 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to medical insurance coding specialist/coder. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medical Insurance Coding Specialist

Some careers associated with medical insurance coding specialist/coder require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for medical insurance coding specialist/coder careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	32.7%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	34.2%
Some College Courses	15.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	0.3%

Online Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Programs

In 2020-2021, 463 schools offered a medical insurance coding specialist/coder program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	313	85
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	0
Associate’s Degree	103	41
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medical Insurance Coding Specialist Worth It?

The median salary for a medical insurance coding specialist/coder grad is $34,540 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Medical Insurance Coding Specialist

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical insurance coding specialist/coder.

Major	Number of Grads
Health Care Management	16,886
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	9,623
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	8,186
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	8,049
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,893
Medical Office Management/Administration	3,555
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,088
Health Information Management	2,688
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,870
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,176
Medical Reception/Receptionist	781
Long Term Care Administration/Management	275
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	224
Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist	198
Clinical Research Coordinator	127
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	94
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	23
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	20
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	15
Disease Registry Data Management	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.