Article by Ira E. Shapiro, The Hill blog, November 14, 2013
Despite the negative attention Obamacare has had recently, Obamacare will also help create many new jobs in the healthcare arena in our country due to the shortage of coders in the healthcare industry.
Under Obamacare, roughly 40 million new patients will enter our healthcare system and that will create the need to code hundreds of millions of new charts each year. Under ICD-10 productivity estimates, a coder will take half an hour to code an average outpatient chart and an hour on average to code an inpatient chart. Think of the millions of new coders and billers that will have to be hired within the healthcare industry over the next 5 years. This will make medical coding one of the fastest growing professions in the country.
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problem, a list maintained by the World Health Organization.
Secondly, the new medical coding requirements under ICD-10 are much more specific and requires more in-depth knowledge from a medical coder, such as subject matter expertise in medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. This paradigm shift in the elevation of a medical coder’s importance to the revenue cycle of a healthcare facility and level of expertise required, along with an aging medical coding population is causing a significant shortage of coders and billers in healthcare.
Furthermore, it is expected that productivity will drop by at least 50 percent for coders and billers in the new world of ICD-10, as it happened in the other countries as they transitioned into ICD-10. The increased workload may even have a more severe impact on productivity here in the U.S. because our ICD-10 is different and more rigorous as we will code for reimbursement, different from other countries that are single payer systems. Even under ICD-9 today, which is less complex, there is a severe shortage of coders and this will be magnified by ICD-10.
The Affordable Care Act has helped create a great opportunity for many people who need to work remotely because of its flexible nature and many can work from home. An example would be wounded warriors, the unemployed, returning veterans and spouses, single parents, high school graduates who don’t want to go on to a degree program, all whom are great candidates for a career in medical coding. Even other existing healthcare professionals and clinical people who are interested in a more administrative role would be interested in this career. It will pay very well, as it is predicted that a new medical coder in ICD-10 with no experience will command between $45k and 60k on average. No college degree required.
The biggest challenge from ICD-10 will be the vacuum created by the huge shortage of talent. Medical Coders, clinical documentation specialists, and other health IT professionals will all be in great demand. Intended or unintended, we have the Department of Health and Human Services and the Obama administration to thank for all these new job possibilities in healthcare.Despite the negative attention Obamacare has had recently, Obamacare will also help create many new jobs in the healthcare arena in our country due to the shortage of coders in the healthcare industry.
Under Obamacare, roughly 40 million new patients will enter our healthcare system and that will create the need to code hundreds of millions of new charts each year. Under ICD-10 productivity estimates, a coder will take half an hour to code an average outpatient chart and an hour on average to code an inpatient chart. Think of the millions of new coders and billers that will have to be hired within the healthcare industry over the next 5 years. This will make medical coding one of the fastest growing professions in the country.
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problem, a list maintained by the World Health Organization.
Secondly, the new medical coding requirements under ICD-10 are much more specific and requires more in-depth knowledge from a medical coder, such as subject matter expertise in medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. This paradigm shift in the elevation of a medical coder’s importance to the revenue cycle of a healthcare facility and level of expertise required, along with an aging medical coding population is causing a significant shortage of coders and billers in healthcare.
Furthermore, it is expected that productivity will drop by at least 50 percent for coders and billers in the new world of ICD-10, as it happened in the other countries as they transitioned into ICD-10. The increased workload may even have a more severe impact on productivity here in the U.S. because our ICD-10 is different and more rigorous as we will code for reimbursement, different from other countries that are single payer systems. Even under ICD-9 today, which is less complex, there is a severe shortage of coders and this will be magnified by ICD-10.
The Affordable Care Act has helped create a great opportunity for many people who need to work remotely because of its flexible nature and many can work from home. An example would be wounded warriors, the unemployed, returning veterans and spouses, single parents, high school graduates who don’t want to go on to a degree program, all whom are great candidates for a career in medical coding. Even other existing healthcare professionals and clinical people who are interested in a more administrative role would be interested in this career. It will pay very well, as it is predicted that a new medical coder in ICD-10 with no experience will command between $45k and 60k on average. No college degree required.
The biggest challenge from ICD-10 will be the vacuum created by the huge shortage of talent. Medical Coders, clinical documentation specialists, and other health IT professionals will all be in great demand. Intended or unintended, we have the Department of Health and Human Services and the Obama administration to thank for all these new job possibilities in healthcare.
