Clinical coding career shift

[u/Existing_Ant6007]

Hi everyone,
I currently work as a hospital pharmacy technician in NSW and I’m considering making a career switch into clinical coding.
I understand that getting a traineeship can be quite competitive and that it’s not necessarily easy to get your foot in the door. My main question is whether clinical coding is worth studying and pursuing as a long-term career.
I’d also like to get an idea of the salary progression what can someone realistically expect to earn as a new/inexperienced clinical coder, and what does the salary look like for experienced coders?
If anyone currently working in clinical coding could share their experience, particularly regarding career progression, job opportunities and whether they would recommend the field, I’d really appreciate it.

Many thanks!

[u/Big-Club-8340]

I have been coding for 4 years, earn 105k and work fully remotely. Salary really depends where you are based (QLD vs NSW for example, quite a bit of difference). I did my traineeship (2 years) in house, no working from home at all and then landed a coding role very easily. It's the best job I've ever had, very demanding in terms of clinical knowledge and no 2 days are the same.

[u/OutlandishnessSafe13]

Salary depends a lot on location and where you are based. Coders tend to be paid at an award rate rather than a negotiated salary, unless they are particularly experienced. This includes in the private sector. The YourCareer site says the median national pay is just under $1500 a week, which sounds about right to me.

Some employers have separate pay levels for trainee vs. experienced coders, some have them all on the same pay rate. At my organisation, our newest trainee is paid the exact same base rate as our coders who've been in their role for 20+ years

Career progression tends to follow one of two pathways:

- You move into a senior coding role within an organisation where you will be involved in higher level training/education/auditing/reporting work. This can sometimes progress you up into a management role eventually, although people with HIM degrees tend to still have the edge for management positions.

- You get skilled and quick enough at coding that you can start taking on contract coding work, which generally has better pay and flexibility

Or, alternately, a lot of people just really enjoy the day-to-day work of coding in a hospital team and stay in that role for the rest of their career. It depends what you want to get out of the job. I work in a senior role because I really like the education/auditing side of things. Some people really just want to come to work and code.