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32 AAPC Coding Edge
added edge
CP
C-I
$60K
$50K
$40K
$30K
$20K
$10K
$0K
$70K
CP
C-P
Spe
cial
ty
Mul
tipl
e S
peci
alti
es
CP
C-H
CP
C
Cer
tifi
ed
Non
-cer
tifi
ed
CP
C-A
$68,593
$55,172
$53,725
$52,777
$51,980
$45,253
$44,740
$37,290
$34,699
Credentialed coders prove recession-proof in this year’s AAPC Salary Survey, which shows your
salaries rose 4 percent to an average of $44,750. And even non-certified coders benefited from their affiliation with AAPC, with a 2 percent average salary gain to $37,290.
And this, mind you, in the midst of bank failures, foreclosures, layoffs, and a housing bust.
“It appears certified coders are more recession proof than others, that multiple specialty credentials improve your career, and that education, of course, adds to that benefit,” Reed Pew, AAPC president/CEO, told Coding Edge. The type of credential makes a difference, too, when paired with work venue. Those who work in the insurance industry or facilities are naturally more likely to make more than those in a smaller physician practices. But the results of this and another study are encouraging not only for those who are certified but for all those who are AAPC members.
More than 10,000 members responded to the annual salary survey, which was conducted this summer over the Internet.
2009 Salary Survey:Certification Protects Members from RecessionRECOGNIZED AS PROFESSIONALS, CODERS WEATHER ECONOMIC STORM
By Brad Ericson, CPC, COSC, and Jennifer Rothlisberger
Average by Credential
www.aapc.com October 2009 33
added edge
Being certified adds more than $7,000 to the aver-age salary over being noncertified. CPC-As, many of whom are just entering the workforce, have a lower average income, and there is no underesti-mating the effect experience has on one’s career. Coders with more than 21 years of experience aver-aged $54,477 this year.
Education is the other part of the equation: This year, more of us report having been to college: 73.5 percent compared to 69 percent last year. There are 17.5 percent of the respondents who completed their bachelor’s degrees. Your education level, not surprisingly, has a significant impact on salary level.
This is the second survey of coders this year indi-cating we are being recognized for our professional skills and that our coding community is relatively immune to downturns. “Not only do certified coders show a jump in salary and opportunity in this data, but paired with an earlier study pub-lished in the March 25 journal For the Record, we find coders with an AAPC certification fared posi-tively while those with other credentials suffered during the downturn,” Pew said. “In the earlier study, 17 percent more CPCs than CCSs said they had not been negatively impacted by the economy.” Coders who work for physicians, groups, ambula-tory surgery centers (ASC), outpatient departments, and payers are seeing their careers blossom, accord-ing to the For the Record study.
The bottom line for AAPC coders at a time when bottom lines are looking pretty bleak is simple, Pew said. “It is clear we are increasingly recognized for who we are and how our skills add value to our employers.”
This is especially true of those who have specialty certification. While it’s difficult to accurately deter-mine what specialty credentials are most financially advantageous, we can look at the salaries of those who indicated they work in a specialty for a hint. Those who work in radiology, cardiovascular and thoracic, plastic and reconstructive, and rheumatol-ogy specialties report the highest average salaries this year. While little has changed this year in the order of specialties, we note that last year’s highest paid specialty, neurology, fell off the list because too few responded to the survey.
Average by Education
$40K $50K$10K $60K$20K $70K$30K
Technical School
High SchoolGraduate
Some College
AssociatesDegree
Bachelor’s Degree
Master’s Degree
$38,129
$40,746
$42,304
$42,787
$51,820
$66,137
Experience also determines the average salary of members.
Average by Experience
2 yrs
5 yrs
10 yrs
15 yrs
20 yrs
21+
$30,323
$33,584
$39,770
$44,949
$49,949
$50,350
$54,477
0 5 10 15 20(years)
34 AAPC Coding Edge
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Salary by Specialty
Specialty Avg. Salary Responses
Anesthesia and Pain Management $43,558 414
Cardiology $41,966 434
Cardiovascular and Thoracic $48,145 84
Dermatology $45,529 87
Emergency Medicine $41,538 522
Family Practice $39,900 1,069
Gastrointestinal $42,179 171
General Surgery $41,968 521
Internal Medicine $42,725 611
Obstetrics/Gynecology $42,305 412
Orthopedic $42,927 564
Otolaryngology $43,207 143
Pediatrics $41,533 262
Plastic and Reconstructive $46,843 57
Rheumatology $48,501 21
Urology $44,024 151
Radiology $49,328 184
Salary by Work Place
Where We Work Avg. Salary ResponsesConsultant $75,849 143
Payer $54,643 154
Insurance Company $49,680 252
Government Facility $46,795 296
Hospital $44,895 1,865
ASC $44,035 175
Coding-Related Vendor $43,660 75
Large Group Practice (11+ Physicians) $43,187 2,384
Medium Group Practice (6-10 Physicians $40,714 896
Billing Company $40,301 966
Small Group Practice (3-5 Physicians) $40,155 948
Individual Practice (1-2 Physicians) $39,102 775
DME/Pharmacy Company $38,021 24
Rehab Center $37,500 27
Coders have a lot of roles, carry a lot of titles, and present a number of responsibilities founded on our professional skills. This data is interesting enough that we present it in two ways: by salary and by title. Those whose professional titles are consultants, managers, and administrators do better, not surprisingly. Consultants historically are at the top of the list, but we see those working in physician groups and practices moving up.
Salary by Title
By Title, Alphabetized
By Salary, Highest to Lowest
10+ Practice Manager $63,148 Consultant-Owner $83,802
1-3 Practice Manager $46,705 Consultant-Employed $66,762
4-10 Practice Manager $54,742 Administrator $64,482
Administrator $64,482 Compliance Manager $63,251
Apprentice $30,693 10+ Practice Manager $63,148
Audit Specialist $49,185 Reimbursement Manager
$58,946
Billing Coordinator $35,804 Coding Manager $57,258
Billing Manager $49,722 4-10 Practice Manager $54,742
Billing Supervisor $42,010 Insurance Manager $54,079
Coding Manager $57,258 Educator-workplace $52,980
Coding Supervisor $49,958 Coding Supervisor $49,958
Compliance Manager $63,251 Billing Manager $49,722
Consultant-Employed $66,762 Audit Specialist $49,185
Consultant-Owner $83,802 Educator-school $47,618
Denials/Appeals Specialist $37,757 1-3 Practice Manager $46,705
Educator-school $47,618 Payer Coder $42,388
Educator-workplace $52,980 Medical Records Supervisor
$42,273
Hospital Coder $39,280 Billing Supervisor $42,010
Insurance Manager $54,079 Hospital Coder $39,280
Insurance Rep $36,920 Denials/Appeals Specialist
$37,757
Medical Records Supervisor $42,273 Physician Coder $37,564
Payer Coder $42,388 Insurance Rep $36,920
Physician Coder $37,564 Billing Coordinator $35,804
Reimbursement Manager $58,946 Apprentice $30,693
www.aapc.com October 2009 35
added edge
More Interesting Tidbits Our survey shows 58 percent of coders work an average of
31-40 hours per week. Those reporting they worked an average of 41 to 71 hours per week amount to 38 percent. Those who are part-time, working 30 or fewer hours, amounted to only 5 percent. Coders work hard for their employers.
A significant 81 percent don’t have productivity standards in your offices and work at the office each day. A third may work from home some days of the week. Half of the respondents say they work flex-time schedules.
More than 91 percent of you receive health insurance, 89 per-cent receive paid holidays, 82 percent receive paid sick time, and 78 percent receive dental insurance as benefits. Slightly over half who do have health insurance as a benefit said their employer help pay for coverage.
Almost 9 percent work with physicians who have coder certifi-cation. New information, this is something we look forward to watching in subsequent studies.
Who’s doing the coding and how? Are they using documentation and electronic medical records (EMRs)? Here’s a breakdown directly from the study:
The majority of coders code all procedures from the documentation.
The next largest group codes all procedures from a paper billing form.
Only 8 percent code only a part of the claim on an EMR program.
$35-40,000
$35-40,000
This map details the regions and their average salaries
New England & NY – $48,066Atlantic – $49,208Mid-Atlantic – $40,713
South – $41,950Southwest – $41,690
Great Lakes – $41,510
Mountain/Plain – $42,848Pacific – $50,143
36 AAPC Coding Edge
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Where is Key, TooLocation, location, location makes a difference in how much respon-dents say they are paid. Here is the breakdown of those who work in the cities, suburbs, and in rural areas:
Urban $45,631
Suburban $44,551
Rural $38,930
While salaries in the New England, Southwest, and Mountain regions grew by at least 4 percent, it appears cost of living helps mould average salaries. The economy, no doubt, had an impact this year as downturns in other industries impacted coders in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic region.
The Good NewsIt appears we are being recognized for our professional skills and our certifications not only helped protect us from the economic downturn, they are helping us in addition to our titles, roles, and locations. Paired with results from an earlier survey, we find being a coder is a pretty good gig with possibilities and opportunities, and that your CPC® credential gives you a pretty beneficial professional and personal network with which to be associated.
More results of the survey can be found on www.aapc.com.
Brad Ericson, CPC, COSC, is AAPC’s director of publications.[ ]Jennifer Rothlisberger is a marketing communi-cations specialist and statistician for the AAPC.[ ]
State Avg. Salary
Minnesota $46,536
Mississippi $40,184
Missouri $40,397
Montana $35,933
Nebraska $40,240
Nevada $45,739
New Hampshire $47,184
New Jersey $52,369
New Mexico $43,703
New York(New York City)(Outside NYC)
$48,107 ($59,093)($44,721)
North Carolina $42,709
North Dakota $36,301
Ohio $40,163
Oklahoma $39,556
Oregon $44,960
Pennsylvania $46,093
Rhode Island $51,142
South Carolina $39,992
South Dakota $37,580
Tennessee $42,212
Texas $44,839
Utah $45,000
Vermont $41,030
Virginia $41,967
State Avg. SalaryAlabama $39,278
Alaska $49,667
Arizona $45,222
Arkansas $38,791
California(Northern)(Southern)
$53,346 ($54,175)($52,783)
Colorado $45,969
Connecticut $50,420
Delaware $48,000
Florida $42,530
Georgia $42,017
Hawaii $49,323
Idaho $42,787
Illinois(Chicagoland)(Downstate)
$40,991 ($48,020)($35,947)
Indiana $41,552
Iowa $39,238
Kansas $40,264
Kentucky $37,830
Louisiana $38,750
Maine $40,428
Maryland $53,060
Massachusetts $52,650
Michigan $42,306
How do you fare compared to your state average? Again, you’ll notice that location affects the salary, considering cost of living, urban vs. rural setting, and regional economic pressures.