32 AAPC Coding Edge

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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

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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

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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.