The average hospital inpatient coder is:
- Female
- 41 years old
- Working full time
- Has more than 10 years of experience
- Has been at their current job for more than 5 years
- Has an associates degree in health information technology
- First learned to code on-the-job
- Is an ART
- Is earning $15.13 an hour
- Codes 4 (inpatient) records per hour
What does the day of an average inpatient coder look like?
- In addition to medicine, surgery, psychiatric, OB/GYN, and newborn
records, she is likely to also code ASU and ED records.
- She is likely to interact with the patient accounting and patient
registration departments at least once a day
- In addition to coding, she is likely to also perform some analysis
duties on the records she is coding
- Is just as likely to have her work audited internally as to not have it
audited internally
- Is more likely not to have her work audited externally
How do coders feel about their knowledge-base?
- More than 80% feel they have a strong knowledge of anatomy and
physiology
- More than 70% feel they have a strong knowledge of disease processes
- More than 90% feel they have a strong knowledge of medical
terminology
How do coders feel about their jobs?
- 31% feel they work in a "quiet" environment
- 57% feel they work under significant time pressure
- 70% feel they have a heavy work load
- 55% feel they have a high stress level
- 29% feel that their daily environment is not at all conducive to
work
- 45% feel they have a high level of management support
- 60% feel there is no opportunity for advancement in their current
job
- 30% feel they have no or very little access to ongoing education
- 49% have little to no involvement in professional associations
- 51% have high job morale
- 60% have high job satisfaction
