While people often conflate the two, medical coding and medical billing are separate roles and functions in a healthcare office environment.
When you receive healthcare from a medical provider such as a hospital or doctor’s office, a medical coder translates the diagnosis, treatment or procedure you receive to an alphanumeric code that’s uniform across the healthcare industry. Because codes are standardized, the data they report can be used for research and public health reasons. Medical coding is crucial for tracking cases of and treatments for diseases and injuries.
Blain Tekesterberhan, senior coding manager and instructor at Baltimore-based Mercy Medical Center, said that if someone goes to the hospital for treatment after a car accident, there are codes to identify that the person was injured in a car crash and other identifiers of the specific trauma their body received. This codified information can lead to advancements or policy changes related to airbags, seatbelts or other aspects of vehicle safety.
“So it goes beyond what people think,” she says. “And it is this standardized, agreed-upon convention that allows us to have this data be available to researchers to be able to do this very important work.”
Medical billers use that code to determine how much the healthcare services you receive cost, and to bill you or your insurance provider the appropriate amount.
Medical coders are among the professionals that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to as medical records specialists. As the U.S. population ages and healthcare roles are increasingly in demand, the BLS projects that 13,800 medical records specialists jobs will be added between 2024 and 2034. That 7% growth is more than twice the 3% growth the BLS predicts across all occupations during this time frame. Medical billers might simultaneously fall under the medical records specialist umbrella and the category that the BLS calls billing and posting clerks. The BLS projects little to no change in the number of billing and posting clerk jobs between 2024 and 2034.
This career field is more accessible than some others; medical billers and coders technically don’t need a college degree to enter their occupations. This guide explores how to get certified in medical billing and coding, as well as how much money people in these roles make and how to maintain certifications.
How Much Does Medical Billing and Coding Pay?
Given that a medical billing or coding course and certification exam cost substantially less than a college degree, these can be more affordable routes to decent-paying career paths.
The salaries for medical billing and coding roles vary by employer, geographic location and experience. These professionals can work at healthcare facilities such as hospitals, imaging centers or walk-in clinics, as well as assisted living facilities or nursing homes, insurance agencies, or educational institutions – basically, any number of places that provide direct patient care or manage billing for medical services.
Professional credentialing organization AAPC surveyed thousands of medical records specialists in 2025 as part of its annual salary report and found that respondents made an average of $65,007. Those who had spent a year or less in their role averaged $45,377, while professionals with careers lasting more than three decades reported $80,479. In a state-by-state comparison, the highest-reported average annual salary, $77,708, was in Delaware, and the lowest, $50,393, was in Mississippi.
Salary data often reflects the cost of living in a particular area. Comparing the salary for a medical billing or medical coding job with the cost of housing, insurance, taxes and other expenses can help you determine where your paycheck might stretch the furthest.
Credentials and certifications may also impact medical records professionals’ salaries. AAPC reports that certified medical records specialists make about $10,000 more per year than their peers who lack certification, and that those with two or three credentials have higher incomes than those with one credential. (It should be noted that the AAPC issues credentials for medical billers and coders, among other medical records specialists.) The organization reports that professionals who hold its Certified Professional Biller credential made an average of $63,874 in 2025, and Certified Professional Coder credential-holders made $67,147.
The BLS reports that as of May 2025, “business, professional, labor, political and similar organizations” was the highest-paying industry for medical records specialists. Professionals in this field make an average of $78,940 each year.
How to Get Medical Billing and Coding Certification
To become certified in medical billing or coding, you need to take a training course and pass a comprehensive exam.
Meet education and experience requirements
While the exact requirements vary by the credential you plan to pursue, you should have a grasp on medical terminology, anatomy and physiology if you plan to work in the medical field. More advanced credentials may have professional experience or education requirements.
Maintain your certification
For each certification, professionals must complete a certain number of continuing education units, or CEUs, each year to keep their credentials up to date. Exact CEU requirements vary by credential, and you can earn them by attending conferences, webinars or workshops.
Janet McArthur, senior director of health information services at Mercy Medical Center, says she and Tekesterberhan earn CEUs for the certifications they earned through credentialing organization AHIMA – the American Health Information Management Association – by attending AHIMA’s annual conference.
Rhonda Buckholtz currently serves as president of the national advisory board for AAPC, the other major player in medical billing and coding certification; and is director of coding operations for RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey. Buckholtz notes that those with certification through AAPC can sometimes take quizzes based on articles in the organization’s magazine to earn CEUs.
Below, learn about the different types of medical billing and coding certifications and where you can obtain them.
Types of Medical Billing and Coding Certifications
The type of certification you pursue depends on what aspect of the field you plan to work in.
Both AAPC and AHIMA issue a variety of credentials for medical coders. Here are a few:
- Certified Coding Associate (CCA): This entry-level credential from AHIMA is designed for early-career professionals. The organization recommends that prospective CCA exam-takers have at least six months of coding experience or complete a training program before sitting for the exam.
- Certified Coding Specialist (CCS): This AHIMA credential is a natural next step for CCAs with at least one year of coding experience, noncredentialed coders with at least two years of experience, or other eligible coding professionals.
- Certified Outpatient Coder (COC): This credential from AAPC is for professionals with experience coding in outpatient services, including at hospitals.
- Certified Inpatient Coder (CIC): This AAPC certification demonstrates proficiency in coding in an inpatient hospital setting.
Depending on experience and education requirements, medical coders can pursue additional credentials in medical auditing, data analysis, or specialties such as emergency department or anesthesia and pain management coding.
What can you do in medical billing or coding?
Skill or area
What it is
Medical billing
Assembling invoices for medical services, sending invoices to patients, tracking payments with insurance companies and confirming patient coverage.
Medical coding
Translating information from lab reports, physician notes, diagnoses or other relevant data points to a universal code that is then used for recordkeeping and billing.
Medical auditing
Reviewing coding records, billing records and other clinical documents for quality assurance and to ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Medical compliance
Ensuring that a healthcare provider or organization complies with federal and industry regulations such as HIPAA privacy laws, preventing fraud and abuse within the organization.
Health data analysis
Interpreting and identifying trends in healthcare data.
Education
Teaching and training medical coding or medical billing, either in a college or professional setting.
Where to Get Medical Billing and Coding Certification
You can enroll in online training courses through either a professional credentialing organization or a higher learning institution to prepare for your medical billing or coding certification exam.
Professional organizations
Whether you pursue a credential in coding or billing, you need to sit for an exam from an industry-recognized professional organization such as AHIMA or AAPC. These organizations sell training courses and study materials to help you prepare for the test. Courses are delivered online and may be self-paced or instructor-led. Proctored exams may be delivered in person or online; the format and time allotted for each test may vary by credential.
Colleges and universities
In lieu of taking a training course directly through one of the credentialing organizations, you may enroll in a medical billing or coding course through a college or university. These programs are often available online and typically include a voucher for a credentialing exam. If you go this route, be sure the course prepares you for the exam you want to take; every college course isn’t necessarily designed for every professional credential.
Is Medical Billing and Coding a Remote Job?
Medical billing and coding is a remote-friendly field. Buckholtz, who lives in Pennsylvania and works for a New Jersey-based healthcare system, says she’s been a remote worker since 2007, “way before it became cool to be remote.”
McArthur says the majority of roles in her department at Mercy Medical are remote, with the option to commute to the office. “We do have an area if a coder wants to come in to work,” she says. “Sometimes, people want other people connections. So we do offer that.”
Tekesterberhan adds that roles that strictly focus on coding are more likely to be fully remote than those that involve more extensive collaboration with another department.
Securing an entry-level coding job may be challenging, as medical facilities may be more likely to prefer job candidates with coding experience. McArthur began her career as a medical records office assistant and then took classes in medical terminology and other relevant subjects before earning her CCS certification. While medical coders and billers come from various backgrounds, getting your foot in the door with an entry-level job can be a good way to gain hands-on experience working in a medical office setting and make the remote jobs you want potentially more attainable down the road.
If you prefer or feel like you need to work on-site, check with prospective employers in your area to see if they offer in-person opportunities, or if their coding or billing departments are fully remote.
“If you don’t think you’re a good remote worker, do the research for your geographic area and actually see,” Buckholtz says. “A lot of the larger institutions have kind of farmed out their coding services. So you’ve got to make sure that there are actually positions that are available if you don’t want to work remote.”
What Skills Do You Need for a Medical Billing and Coding Job?
While training and certification in your desired avenue is a valuable asset for securing a medical billing and coding job, successful medical records specialists also possess soft and other professional skills.
“I think a lot of people think, ‘Oh, you read a record and you just supply a code to it.’ It doesn’t work like that,” McArthur says of medical coding. “You really have to have knowledge of medical terminology, the disease process, pharmacology. It’s not easy.”
The experts shared what they consider essential skills for a career in the field:
- Attention to detail. “A code missed is a missed opportunity for reporting, for billing, for a lot of things,” Tekesterberhan says.
- Critical thinking. Medical coders should exercise reading comprehension and understand the medical context of their work so they apply the correct codes to the record.
- Communication. Coders must convey information efficiently between other stakeholders they interact with. “You don’t get a physician’s attention for very long, so you have to be able to deliver that message very quickly and effectively that gets them to follow along,” Buckholtz says.
- Time management. “Hospitals have a lot of patients, so you cannot spend a lot of time specifically on one account,” Tekesterberhan emphasizes, adding that professionals must code thoroughly to ensure accurate reporting and billing while working within a reasonable time period.
While the BLS cautions that AI-driven solutions may affect demand for workers in the medical records specialist field, Buckholtz says she anticipates more of a shift in responsibility than outright replacement. She views artificial intelligence as a time-saving tool that medical coders can use while employing critical thinking skills.
“It can enhance and speed up your workflow, but it can’t solve all the strategic business problems that you have,” she says. “You need a human in the loop, and you need someone reviewing for a lot of things outside of just assigning a level. So roles shift and you become more of a critical eye, more strategic in nature.”
