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Clinical Coders

ANZSCO ID 599915

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
1,300
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
56%
Female Share
93%
Average age
50
About this data

Summary

Clinical Coders assign codes to narrative descriptions of patients' diseases, operations and procedures in accordance with recognised classification systems to allow for easy storage, retrieval and analysis of health data.

Tasks

  • Types information from documents into a computer.

  • Analyses and determines classifications.

  • Reviews information received for accuracy and correctness.

  • Contacts providers and various other sources to obtain information required to resolve discrepancies.

  • Generates reports.

Characteristics

Job Type
Clerical And Administrative Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
5999 Other Clerical & Administrative Workers
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Interests
  • Administrative
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Other Clerical & Administrative Workers, under the outlook section.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 56% of people employed as Clinical Coders work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 10 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 41 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.

Industries

Main industries

1
Health Care and Social Assistance
92.8%
2
Public Administration and Safety
3.5%
3
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1.2%
4
Financial and Insurance Services
1.1%
5
Other industries
0.2%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

31.3% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

15.2% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

24.6% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

9.5% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

14.2% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

2.7% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.1% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.5% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Clinical Coders All Jobs Average
NSW 31.3 31.6
VIC 15.2 25.6
QLD 24.6 20.0
SA 9.5 7.0
WA 14.2 10.8
TAS 2.7 2.0
NT 1.1 1.0
ACT 1.5 1.9


  • Around 43% of Clinical Coders live outside of capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 38%.

    Queensland and Western Australia have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
50
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
93%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Clinical Coders is 50 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 45 to 54 years.

    Females make up 93% of the workforce. This is 45 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Clinical Coders All Jobs Average
15-19 0.0 5.0
20-24 1.5 9.3
25-34 11.2 22.9
35-44 21.4 22.0
45-54 32.2 21.6
55-59 17.9 9.0
60-64 10.9 6.0
65 and Over 4.8 4.2
Median Age 50 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A formal qualification in health or information management is usually needed to work as a Clinical Coder. University and Vocational Education and Training (VET) are both common study pathways.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Property Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Clinical Coders All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 9.8 10.1
Bachelor degree 34.3 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 21.5 11.6
Certificate III/IV 17.5 21.1
Year 12 11.1 18.1
Year 11 1.0 4.8
Year 10 and below 4.8 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Clerical and Administrative Workers who have good computer skills, can communicate clearly and can interact with a variety of people.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 48%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 45%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 45%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 43%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 41%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 39%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 39%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 37%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 37%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 37%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 36%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 36%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 36%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 34%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 32%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 30%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 27%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 27%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 27%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 25%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 63%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 50%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 45%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 42%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 37%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 30%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 28%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 27%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 27%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 25%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 22%

    Medicine and dentistry

    Diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities, including preventive health-care measures.

  • 18%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 17%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

  • 14%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 13%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 13%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 11%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 10%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 9%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 8%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 54%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 54%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 50%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 48%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 46%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 46%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 45%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 45%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 41%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 41%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 41%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 39%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 39%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 37%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 37%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 36%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 36%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 36%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 36%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 30%

    Manual dexterity

    Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 72%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 72%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 69%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 66%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 63%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 63%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 61%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 57%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

  • 53%

    Making sense of information and ideas

    Looking at, working with, and understanding data or information.

  • 53%

    Providing office support

    Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.

  • 51%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 50%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 48%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 48%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 46%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 43%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 34%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 33%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 29%

    Leading and encouraging a team

    Encouraging and building trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.

  • 27%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 52%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 33%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 29%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 14%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 76%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 67%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 52%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 45%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 43%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 43%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 94%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 91%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

  • 88%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 87%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 86%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 84%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 84%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 79%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 79%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 79%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 78%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 77%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 76%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 74%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 70%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 63%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 63%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 62%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 62%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 61%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 29-2071.00 - Medical Records and Health Information Technicians.

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