What is the responsibility of a remote medical coder?

In the healthcare industry, all kinds of diagnosis and procedures have their respective codes. The codes are used primarily for billing purposes. However, they are not strictly limited to that area. They are also used to keep a tab on the diagnosis and to aid in better management.

Coders maintain their inputs in software systems by identifying the accurate codes for services rendered and coding them accordingly. In many cases, especially in the case of large healthcare organizations, dedicated coders are appointed for in-house coding. In recent times though, there has been a shift of preference to engage more and more remote medical coders.

To start at the beginning, a remote medical coder is fundamentally a coding specialist who does the same work as an in-house coder, but from a remote location. This location, during many times, is an overseas operations center, located in a geographical area where cheap but high quality labor may be obtained easily.

So how does a remote medical coder work? It typically starts by getting the charts that need to be coded from hospitals and other healthcare organizations. These are usually transmitted digitally to save time and cost. Upon receiving these charts, the coder is required to study them carefully and apply the right codes for each procedure or service. The entire process is done using specialized coding software and allied digital tools. Remember, every medical coding specialist claiming to be good at his craft should know the usage of various medical codes which are used for different coding scenarios. These include the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and Diagnostic-related group (DRG) codes.

4 reasons you should hire remote medical coders:

1. They provide specialized services: Remote medical coders are often highly trained professionals who choose to work remotely because they are highly proficient in a niche skill set and find it more productive, and profitable, to work according to their own schedule from their preferred location.

2. Hiring them is more cost-effective: In general, people who work remotely have lesser overhead than regular, in-house employees. As an employer, you can make big savings on employee cost because there is little more to pay than just a pre-agreed hourly or per-chart fee that the coder demands. You don’t have to pay for their health insurance, paid vacations, infrastructural cost, FICA or perks.

3. They provide better flexibility: Remote coders are able to schedule work according to your requirement and set their priorities accordingly. They are often ready to work on highly flexible hours and are willing to go that extra mile to keep their clients happy because, unlike regular employees on a fixed payroll, their earnings are directly linked to their actual output.

4. They offer better speed and efficiency: Remote coders may take on multiple projects at a time but they still manage to get all their jobs done with equal speed and efficiency. The remote coding market, though not frightfully crowded till now, is already getting increasingly competitive. In order to survive, remote coders take it up on themselves to obtain the necessary training and certification to get better at their craft and woo more clients.