Medical Billing and Coding Quick Facts from the BLS:
Information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found here: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm
What is Medical Billing and Coding?
Medical records and health information specialists like Medical Billing/ Coders organize, manage, and code health information data. They use various classification systems to code and categorize patient information for insurance reimbursement purposes, for databases and registries, and to maintain patients’ medical and treatment histories.
Some job functions include:
- Review patients’ records for timeliness, completeness, and accuracy
- Organize and update information in clinical databases or registries
- Use classification systems to assign clinical codes for insurance reimbursement and data analysis
- Electronically record data for collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and reporting
- Maintain confidentiality of patients’ records
What is the job outlook for Medical Billing and Coding?
Employment of medical records and health information specialists is projected to grow 8 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.
An aging population will require more medical services, and medical records and health information specialists will be needed to organize and manage the older generations’ health information data. This will mean more claims for reimbursement from insurance companies.
Additional records, coupled with widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) by all types of healthcare providers, will lead to an increased need for specialists to organize and manage the associated information in all areas of the healthcare industry.
Where can Medical Billing and Coding Specialists work?
Medical records and health information specialists held about 341,600 jobs in 2019. The largest employers of medical records and health information specialists were as follows:
| Hospitals; state, local, and private | 37% |
| Offices of physicians | 15 |
| Administrative and support services | 5 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 5 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 4 |
Medical records and health information specialists typically work at a computer.