Certified Coding Specialists are also known as medical records or health information specialists, are responsible for interpreting medical terminology in order to record numerical codes for insurance and medical statistics purposes.

Required Education:
Associate's degree in health information technology recommended

Projected Job Growth:
22% from 2012-22

Median Salary:
$34,970


Certified Coding Specialist Job Requirements:

Certified coding specialist is a member of hospital or clinical support staff who can translate medical terminology into a numerical code used for insurance and statistics information.

CCS must understand the surgical section of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and the International Classification of Diseases Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) in order to properly convert the terminology into numerical codes.


Educational Requirements:

Certified coding specialists are typically required by employers to have graduated from a two-year associate's degree program in medical coding and billing.

Many health care professionals still fill this role through on-the-job experience; certified coding specialists can be certified by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).


Exam for CCS:

Exam to become a Certified Coding Specialist is a 2-part test. The first part consists of 60 multiple choice questions and second part is composed of 180 hands-on medical case records to be examined and code.