What Is the Difference Between Medical Coding & Medical Billing?

Medical coding is the process of reading a healthcare provider’s documentation to identify what was diagnosed, and the corresponding procedures and services that a healthcare professional performed, and recording this information in an established code format, which the coder has learned. The codes are entered into a computer system, and are nationally recognized by other health care professionals to accurately reflect the patient’s case.  

A medical biller takes those codes, and submits the insurance claim to the patient’s insurance company for payment of services rendered by a healthcare provider. The medical biller must have billing knowledge, so this can be done properly. In some cases, one person may be both a coder and biller, but for larger facilities, the jobs are usually fulfilled by different people/departments.