On Oct. 1, a big change is coming to the health care industry.
That’s the deadline for all health care companies – doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance provider – to upgrade to a new system that logs all medical diagnoses, symptoms and procedures and dictates how much patients and their insurance companies should pay for a specific treatment. While the upcoming switch could have huge implications for the health care industry, it also could translate into an even bigger opportunity for those interested in a career as a medical coder.
“It can be an incredible career,” said Genevieve Daley, owner of Procedural Coders Institute, which provides contract medical coding to health care providers. “I know a lot of people with only a high school education making up to $100,000.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the career of medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow by 22 percent between 2012 and 2022, which is a much faster rate than other occupations.
The work of a medical coder might be lucrative and fast-growing, but it is also often invisible to the general public. Still, it serves as the backbone of the entire health care industry and that’s why the change in the coding system, known as the International Classifications of Diseases, or ICD, from version 9 to version 10 is fraught with peril and possibility. Where one version of ICD-9 had 13,000 codes, the same ICD-10 version has 68,000, making it more precise but also more complicated.
“This is our future and we have to embrace it,” Daley said, who also teaches medical coding classes for UC San Diego Extension. “We have to get onboard or hospitals, doctors and patients will suffer with lack of payment and delayed reimbursement.”
Still, many health care companies are worried they are ill-prepared to face the challenge. A recent research report by Navicure, a healthcare billing company, found that nearly a third of those surveyed thought worker productivity would be affected by at least 20 percent because of the transition to ICD-10. When it comes to staff morale, 53 percent of those surveyed predicted the transition would negatively affect staff morale.
But Daley said there is a bright side for someone new to the industry.
“People who know ICD-10 will be snapped up before anyone else,” she said.
To find out more about how to prepare for careers in medical coding, visit ucsdextension.edu/healthcare.
Jennifer Davies is the assistant dean of external affairs for UC San Diego Extension. She can be reached at jadavies@ucsd.edu.
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Photo courtesy of: Medical Coding News
Originally published on: San Diego Union Tribune
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