Hospital Medical Billing Specialist Salary
In addition to doctors, nurses and medical assistants, hospitals also require medical billing specialists to function properly. These specialists assemble patients' health records and assign codes to their treatments and diagnoses that indicate to the patients' insurance companies how much they should be reimbursed. The salary of a hospital medical billing specialist depends on her level of experience and training, as well as geographic location.
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Salary
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average salary for all medical billing specialists in the United States was $33,880 as of May 2009. With 63,620 workers, general medical and surgical hospitals were the largest employers of these specialists and offered an average salary slightly higher than the overall average at $35,870 a year.
Location
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Medical billing specialists earned the highest wages in New Jersey; the bureau reports that the state's average salary was $45,750, while the average salary in Newark was $51,390, making it the highest-paying metropolitan area in the country for this occupation. Hawaii, Washington D.C., Alaska and Maryland also ranked as high-paying states for specialists with salary averages that ranged from $39,330 to $41,340 annually.
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Qualifications
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Although requirements vary from one hospital to the next, the bureau states that most entry-level medical billing specialists have an associate degree and a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) credential. Training for these specialists include clinical subjects, such as anatomy, physiology and health data requirements, as well as administrative topics, such as data analysis and database security and management.
Benefits and Advancement
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Benefits for hospital medical billing specialists usually include paid vacation time, health insurance coverage and pension plans. Specialists can advance in their field by obtaining a bachelor's degree or advanced specialty certification, such as cancer or tumor registrars. Those with bachelor's or master's degrees may also have the opportunity to move into a health information manager position.
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References
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