A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Coding jobs - me

Posted: Sep 21, 2013

I've been tossing around the idea of going to school for coding. I researched jobs yesterday, though and I saw no jobs paying higher than $18/hr. For those of you working in the field, can you confirm or deny if you make more than that? I'm still pulling in $24-28 doing MT and am going to need at least that in a new job (I get that starting out I wouldn't get that, but I do have some experience in coding and would hope that would at least land me mid level). TIA.

This is just my experience . . - coding student

[ In Reply To ..]
I am currently making $15 as a transcriptionist, working from home as an employee status. Coders in my facility have a starting wage from $13 and go up to $25 an hour. They also work from home as an employee. I am sure auditors and independent contractors can make more than that, but this is just what I know for certain.

What is your ANNUAL income? - Salary surveys

[ In Reply To ..]
The AAPC and AHIMA salary surveys are your best bet for accurate information. I provided the AAPC link below. You can also get there by going to www.aapc.com and searching for "salary survey." AHIMA's is easiest to find by going to www.ahima.org and searching for the same thing.

I think you need to be careful not to compare apples with oranges. You say your hourly rate is 24 to 28. The fact that you are giving a range tells me that you are, literally, looking at it hour by hour. What matters is your ANNUAL income, and in this case, your annual income AFTER business deductions and self-employment taxes, if any, also after considering employee benefits that you do not get now, like health insurance and retirement plan. Coders are typically employees with good benefits and full-time hours, not ICs or employees of MTSOs with rotten benefits, irregular work, unreimbursed expenses, etc.

An hourly average of 26 is a yearly income of about 55K. You really make that much?? After everything is considered? Not saying you don't, but just be sure you are considering all the factors.
Starting salaries will be lower, but the average for AAPC members in 2012 was 48K for credentialed coders going up to an average of 54K for specialty credentials. Some specialties, like interventional average more, in the 70K range. Auditors average 59K. You can estimate 25% on top of that for employee benefits.

You also need to realize that you are not required to stay at entry level permanently. You may need to project your income out a few years. It was worth it for me to take a lower-paying entry coding job because I went up year by year, got better jobs, and went from 33K to 55K in 4 years. I now make more than 70K. Add 30% to those amounts for benefits. My employer provides all my CEUs, gives salary increases for credentials, and will fund further education.

You can see from that that is difficult to compare an IC hourly estimate to a full time yearly salary with benefits. I think you need to be very careful not to cling to what you have because you are overestimating it, are underestimating the other, because you are focused on the short term, or because you are looking for jobs in the wrong sorts of places.

I think AHIMA certified coders working in hospitals make more.
http://www.aapc.com/resources/research/medical-coding-salary-survey/

I find it hard to believe you're a coder making 70k a year. You're constantly on here - posting, so when do you work? nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Regular 40 hour week - Salary Surveys

[ In Reply To ..]
I make that working regular 40 hour weeks. That amount is not unusual. It is within the range on both salary surveys. I don't know why it would be so unbelievable to you.

Also, you are incorrect that I am constantly on here. I am never on here when I am at work. You often seem to confuse someone else's posts with mine.

What flabbers my gaster - Emilie

[ In Reply To ..]
is that when offered really good advice or information about new careers or what someone's experience is like after MT, it gets negged and viewed as suspect. Not only that, some people here go on and on about what a highly skilled profession MT is, how critical MTs are to accurate records, etc, yet when discussing their next career move, jobs like burger-flipping and Walmart greeter come up. There's a real disconnect or lack of confidence among many MTs (not all).

I think it's fantastic that a coder can make $70k annually. Why would anyone question that? It is a professional, highly skilled position. Thank you for the information and links!

annual - OP

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, I'm on track to make $52k as an employee doing MT this year. The ad I was reading addressed per hour rates for coders, which is why I framed my question that way. You are correct in that I don't make $24-26/hr EVERY hour which is why I end up working Saturday mornings too.

Sounds like I may have to code and MT too until I can get to the level I need to earn so that I'm not stressed. I'm in my 50s and single so going back to entry level would be really difficult to do unless I keep MT part time for a while.

Thanks for the info!!

That is a good plan - SS

[ In Reply To ..]
A gradual transition is a good plan. A little extra effort, but worth it. Ten years ago, I would have told you not to bother, but what I see now tells me that you are very wise to be looking for other options. Your job is still working for you, thank goodness, but you never know. And anyway, no knowledge is ever wasted. :-)

you ought to stay where you are - at 24 to 28 bucks an hour

[ In Reply To ..]
it's going to be tough beating that anywhere, doing anything.

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