Being a medical coder isn’t easy because you must constantly upgrade your knowledge and skills to thrive in medical coding. If you cannot upgrade yourself with the changes and updates in medical coding, your knowledge, and skills might become obsolete after a while. Today’s blog will discuss the new coder equipment and skills requirements.
By the end of this blog, you will learn about medical coding and what you need to do to upgrade yourself as a medical coder. So let’s start:
New Medical Coder Equipment and Skills Requirements for 2023
Every year there are new medical coding requirements that medical coders must fulfil to ensure that they are updated with the latest skills and equipment.
Here below are the latest medical coder requirements that you need to fulfil as a medical coder for efficient coding.
Hardware Requirements:
You must have a decent specification computer system equipped with the latest hardware to bring more productivity and efficiency to your medical coding work. As of 2023, your computer system needs to have at least the following hardware specifications:
- 2 GHz Intel Quad Core processor or 3 GHz AMD Quad Core processor
- 8 GB RAM
- 250 GB SSD or 500 GB standard hard drive
- 1080p resolution monitor
- Internet Broadband with 1 Mbps upload and 10 Mbps download speed
Software Requirements:
Regarding software requirements, you need to have a couple of software installed in the computer system on which you do medical coding. These software include:
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 Pro (32-bit & 64-bit)
- Anti-Virus: SentinelOne EDR antivirus (paid and latest version)
- Anti-Malware: SentinelOne EDR antimalware (paid and latest version)
- Firewall: SentinelOne EDR firewall
- Hard Drive Encryption: BitLocker (Windows 10 Pro / Windows 11 Pro)
- Internet Browser: Brave, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox (latest version)
- Archive Software: WinRAR, 7-Zip, or WinZip
- Citrix Framework: Citrix Online Plug-In or Citrix Workspace App
- Office Software: Microsoft Office 365
- PDF Software: Adobe Reader
- Medical Coding Software: Encoder Pro
Skills Requirements
Apart from the hardware and software requirements that we mentioned above, there are also some skills requirements that you need to fulfil as a medical coder in 2023. Below are all the skills requirements you must fulfil to become a professional medical coder.
1- Basic Computer Skills:
As a medical coder, you must be able to daily manage essential files along with creating backups to avoid any inconvenience. Moreover, you should know how to send emails with attachments and about received emails.
You should also be able to browse on various internet browsers such as Google Chrome and Brave. In addition, you must learn how to use Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel.
2- Medical Coding Skills:
Being a coder, you should have a strong and detailed understanding of various medical coding classification systems such as ICD and CPT. Moreover, you must have command over the medical coding software being used. In addition, you must know how to navigate the ICD codes database.
3- Communication Skills:
You may have to often communicate with insurance companies and healthcare providers. Therefore, you must possess good communication skills. Your speaking skills need to be top-notch, and your writing skills also need to be good. This will help you as a medical coder to communicate effectively with other stakeholders while minimizing the chances of miscommunication.
4- Organization Skills:
It’s a must for you to have good organizational skills if you want to be a successful medical coder. Staying organized while doing medical coding not just reduces the chances of errors in coding but also helps you to be more productive.
How to Start Medical Coding in 2023?
1- Fulfill Prerequisites of Medical Coding:
To pursue medical coding as a professional career, there are specific prerequisites that you need to fulfil. It would help if you had any of the below medical coding course qualifications to become a medical coder:
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree in any relevant field of life science or medical science
- Above 50% aggregate in your undergraduate degree with basic knowledge of biology
- Graduation in relevant fields with some knowledge of anatomy and physiology
- Analytically sound enough to read and analyze patient medical records using the correct medical codes
2- Enroll in a Medical Coding Course:
Next, you need to enroll in a medical coding course to become a certified medical coding specialist. The course will help you understand medical terminologies and codes along with rules and regulations.
3- Get Medical Coding Training:
You can work as a medical coder once you are a certified medical coder. Find a job or internship to gain some experience in the medical coding field. This will help you advance both your medical coding skills and knowledge.
4- Get Medical Coding Certification:
After you gain a few years of experience in medical coding, get a professional medical coding certification to take a giant leap in your career. Various bodies, such as AAPC and AHIMA, offer professional certifications in medical coding. Get any of them and open the doors to better employment opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What do you need to know for medical coding?
To become a medical coder, you need to know about the codes used in medical coding along with medical terminologies. Moreover, you must know how to navigate medical coding software and the medical billing process.
What software is used in medical coding?
AdvancedMD, Flash Code, Centricity, and Eclipse are some of the commonly used software used for medical coding by coders.
What is the career scope for me as a medical coder?
The healthcare field has seen incredible growth in the last couple of years and will continue to grow in the coming years. So you will see a lot of better career opportunities coming your way as a medical coder.
