Orthopedic Coding Alert

Our survey proves that longevity in the orthopedic field will bring in more money for coders

If you-ve ever wondered whether higher education, certification and years on the job had any effect on your salary, wonder no more. Our first Salary Survey revealed some fascinating information about coding careers--and a few surprises.

Our survey found that the average salary of the 950 orthopedic coding authorities who responded to our Coders- Salary Survey is between $50,000 and $65,000 a year, with the highest-paid coders working in the orthopedic field for 11 or more years. Our study also revealed that coding certification and education helped coders increase their earning potential.

11 Years- Experience May Mean $40,000 More

Experience power: Our survey revealed that beginning orthopedic coders (those with one to three years of experience in the field) brought in an average of $25,000 to $30,000. But after 11 or more years in the field, orthopedic coders are bringing in $70,000 or more on average, based on our respondents- data.
 
Certification power: And if there was any doubt that certifications carry earning power, our survey will erase any reservations you may have about honing your skills. A full 37 percent of orthopedic coding professionals who responded to our survey said that certification was required before they were hired, and 56 percent hold either the CPC or CPC-H specialty certification.

Our survey results overall, however, indicated that other specialties may not take certification as seriously. We found that industry-wide (those whom we surveyed from other specialties), only 21 percent of our respondents said that certification was a prerequisite for their jobs, and only 41 percent of non-orthopedic respondents held CPC or CPC-H specialty designations. Therefore, orthopedic practices may be more interested than some other specialists in hiring certified coders.

-It makes sense that employers are interested in hiring certified coders,- says Laureen Jandroep, OTR, CPC, CCS-P, CPC-H, CCS, director and senior instructor for CRN Institute, an online coding certification training center at www.crn-institute.com. -Potential employers want their staff to protect them against fraud and ensure that they are capturing all the revenue they are ethically entitled to. They want certified and well-trained staff.-

In addition, the need for certified coders seems to have increased with the implementation of compliance programs in various sectors of the healthcare industry, says Cindy C. Parman, CPC, CPC-H, RCC, president of the AAPC National Advisory Board and principal of Coding Strategies Inc. in Dallas, Ga.

-The necessity of following rules and -doing things right- make it more important than ever to have skilled medical coders, and I believe that certification is seen as evidence of knowledge and training,- Parman says.

Education power: In the orthopedic field, education pays. Thirty-one percent of our respondents are high- school graduates, earning an average of $45,000 to $50,000. But those with four-year or advanced degrees earn an average of $70,000 or more.

Your Least Favorite Payer Revealed

Although Medicare continues to baffle orthopedic coders with outdated regulations, unjustified denials and poor coverage, it takes a backseat to our number-one annoying payer: Medicaid.

Twenty-six percent of our orthopedic coding respondents cited Medicaid as their most problematic payer, whereas only 22 percent named Medicare.

-Medicaid is a problem because their rules vary so much state-to-state, they have low payment, and many times their computer systems are old and outdated and you have to do extra things when it comes to billing issues,- says Annette Grady, CPC, CPC-H, healthcare adviser with Eide Bailly LLP and AAPC officer for the National Advisory Board.
 
For example: -I have seen some Medicaid payers that still develop their own modifiers, or apply a modifier rule differently than CMS,- Grady says.

Software Use Is Growing, but Manuals Reign

Although nearly 70 percent of our orthopedic respondents use coding software, most say that they rely more on their manuals than their software. -The great advantage to software is the edits--you can click a button and NCCI edits come up right away,- Grady says. The downside? -As coders, we like to refer to notes that we write in our books. It becomes a different mind-set.-

In addition, coders tell us that software may contain glitches and errors. -I found two errors in a software program's logic path a few years ago that I called them on,- says Deb Ovall, CMA, CCS, CIC, lead coder and data quality analyst at the University Medical Center of Ohio at Toledo. -One they corrected, but they never got back to me on the other one, so I don't really trust them anymore.-

Because of the negatives associated with software, coders aren't too worried that software will replace human coders. Only 10 percent of our respondents felt that coding software could do their jobs for them.