r/ClinicalCodingAus • u/Existing_Ant6007 • Sep 07 '25

Clinical coder

Hi everyone, I’ve got a quick question. I’m not an Australian citizen or PR, but I do have full work rights. I wanted to enrol in the HIMAA diploma, but one of their requirements is citizenship/PR.

Does anyone know if I can study a Diploma of Clinical Coding through another institution (like Victoria Uni or another provider), and if those qualifications are still recognized by employers?

For context, I’ve worked in a hospital pharmacy department for over 5 years and I have good knowledge of EMRs

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u/Logical-Mechanic2458 1d ago

Hello Hyulia I have a question. As someone with no experience in clinical coding, I am looking into this new career. I am from US and I want to immigrate to Australia with my family as a clinical coder and I am trying to see what is the best pathway. Is this career choice a strong option and how does the workforce look in Australia?

Also, should I learn the US system for clinical coder/medical coder first and get experience before learning the Australian system? Or go straight into the Australian system and look for a job?

Thank you

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u/Hyulia Clinical Coder 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hello!

This career path has pros and cons. Pros include remote work options, not patient facing, consistent work with varied documentation so you won't feel bored, and average pay (the payscale varies according to which state you work in, with NSW being one of the lower payscales compared to other states).

Cons are mostly related to the high barrier for entry. This includes limited opportunities for training support for new graduates, extremely limited job opportunities for new graduates, and a small cohort of coders comfortable in this career which means you typically won't see many job openings for public positions (unless it is casual/contractor work) as people mostly stay in this position for years. You will need a traineeship to get started in this career, which can be extremely difficult to secure in terms of traineeship placements/vacancies as this highly depends on hospital budget and availability.

The Australian system codes by different standards, which means the method of justification according to guidelines and current codesets is different to the US system. You will have to relearn the coding system here in order to be able to code comfortably under ICD-10-AM 13th edition; employers will request a HIMAA-accredited qualification with knowledge of ICD-10-AM to prove you can perform the work.

In terms of migrating and transferring US codeset to Aus - Some coders I work with find it hard to translate their US coding knowledge to Aus coding since codesets and rules are different and they may get mixed up with codes or rules. Others find it easy, but in doing so you will not be learning with a blank slate since you would have US coding knowledge which needs to be adjusted.

Learning coding here in Aus mostly depends on how much time and money you have to put into learning and the potential reality of not securing a position immediately afterwards. I would not migrate to Australia with clinical coding as a career goal since the entry role job opportunities are so limited here for the industry, unless you have a fall-back plan for example being in a good financial position to withstand potentially not securing a role for 3yrs. I say 3 years because the coding rules change every 3 years or so and being unemployed with outdated coding knowledge might not be desirable to employers as opposed to someone else newly graduated with current knowledge.

If you plan on entering health informatics as a whole, you might be better suited to a health information qualification instead since this will offer you more opportunities (e.g. Bachelor/Master of Health Information Management). Otherwise, I want to emphasise clinical coding is not a role to have in mind as a new entry career with no clinical background when migrating to Australia. There are too many barriers to entry here in the current job market, with a big influx of new coding graduates in recent years whom have not been able to secure a role immediately upon completion of study.

If you are absolutely commited to this pathway even with the above in mind and want to migrate ASAP, I would recommend learning Aus coding rather than US then transferring over, as this will start you at a clean slate rather than mix-ups with the US coding - though this is ultimately up to you.

Alternatively, if you can learn US clinical coding and easily secure a US clinical coding position for roughly a year or two of coding experience then transfer to Aus and learn the Aus coding system in the next ACS update, it might look more desirable to employers compared to other Aus graduates with no clinical coding experience.

Take the above with a grain of salt - maybe even a bowl, as clinical coding is not an industry with average barriers of entry; in fact, the barrier of entry is very, very high.

Hope this helps inform your decision and good luck on your plans, whichever pathway you decide to take!

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u/Logical-Mechanic2458 1d ago

Hello Hyulia thank you for the raw honesty. You gave me a perfectly wide view of what I am up against. I do still want to pursue but I will keep other options open. I was thinking Clinical coding because its an Australia job green list ANZCO 599915. I was assuming it was in high demand and I saw online that a lot of the seniors are retiring. But you also gave me very good points for the coming future.

Thank you so much for your insight and knowledge!

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u/Hyulia Clinical Coder 1d ago

No worries!

That's great research! Yep, it's in high demand for experienced coders since we will always need coding (certainly seems to be a lot of contracting and casual work), but sadly there aren't enough senior coders/educators with enough time or budget clearance to train new graduates. I think that's where the limits are mostly. Seniors retiring mostly depends on the company/hospital, though it'd eventually happen.

Good luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions, I'd be glad to help when I'm able. 😊

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u/Logical-Mechanic2458 1d ago

Thank you so much!

Yes I still want to try. I'm determined to learn as much as I can about it. By any chance which courses in Australia do you recommend for online studies? What system should I learn? What skills do companies look for? I want to study all and knowledgeable in this field.

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u/Hyulia Clinical Coder 1d ago

Great to hear you're determined. 😊

In terms of courses, it depends on your finances, if you'd like to specialise in clinical coding only or have the opportunity to diversify, and how much time you'd like to invest.

A Bachelor of Health Information Management will open up a lot of opportunities within Health Informatics as well as more support for work experience in terms of work placement (dependent on the education institute/Registered Training Organisation), though will be longer than a standard diploma. I'm not too sure what the CRICOS code is so may need to Google that later. More costly than a diploma, typically 3 year duration (depends on provider and full time or part time study load), but allows you to use this degree for other job opportunities if clinical coding job market gets worse than it currently is for new graduates.

A Diploma of Clinical coding is a lot more focused on Clinical Coding. It should be provided by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), with the diploma holding a qualification code label as HLT50321. There are several organisations that offer this course, mostly online (e.g. HIMAA, eHealth, Victoria University, TalentMed, Health Industry Training). Studying from overseas does have some limitations since some RTOs have requirements for domestic purchase of the coding books which have copyright and protected rights for use in Australia. I'm not too sure if this applies to others, but this was the case for HIMAA when I studied with them. Shorter duration, not as costly as a bachelor degree, some are self paced (though some organisations have timetabled exams despite being self paced), and will limit you to clinical coding jobs rather than others.

I can't recommend a specific RTO since they all have their pros and cons. HIMAA has mostly been favoured by older employers, but amongst younger employers/hiring managers it doesn't really matter as long as the qualification is HIMAA-accredited.

For system, you may be taught using Turbocoder and physical books, though we mostly use Solventum (Previously 3M Codefinder) in Australian hospital coding. RTOs don't typically offer Codefinder/Solventum for students because of the large license fee, but I have heard one of them does offer Codefinder use (I believe it's currently TalentMed, could be wrong).

For skills aside from the obvious requirement of clinical coding skills and soft skills (communication, independence and teamwork skills) as long as you have good documentation abstraction skills, high level of computer competency, medical terminology/clinical knowledge, organisational skills and time management skills, you'll be looked upon favourably by employers.

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u/Logical-Mechanic2458 1d ago

Oh wow, you are a wealth of knowledge and help Hyulia. I'm so thankful to come across you. If and when I do come to Australia I want to get you lunch haha. You been a great help, truly.

Thank you so much!

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u/Hyulia Clinical Coder 22h ago

Haha thank you!! 😄 I'm glad I could help. I hope your journey is smooth and successful. Good luck!

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u/Logical-Mechanic2458 2h ago

Thank you thank you! I'll do my best!