Technology increasingly influences the evolution of the healthcare industry. Digital coding software called “encoders” can streamline the coding process and have provoked many to wonder about the future of medical coding.
Software can help to reduce the probability of human error but certainly does not replace what a human medical coder brings to the table: ability to decipher human documentation and the reasoning skills to accurately translate them into instructions for billing.
According to the projection from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for medical records and health information technicians (including medical coders) is expected to increase 9% from 2020-2030, faster than the average U.S. occupation.*
Discover our online medical billing and coding program options
* Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2021. BLS estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geography market in which you want to work and degree field, will affect career outcomes and earnings. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the average salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, salary increase or other career growth.