The field of medical transcription has grown exponentially in recent years such that finding a medical transcription company or medical coding company for a medical professional or a medical institution’s needs has become less challenging. With the advent of remote working and the development of outsourcing solutions, the options have become more varied and the supply of medical coders has perhaps become greater than the demand.

Which brings us to the question: should a medical professional or hospital seek medical coding services either locally on-staff or from an established coding company in their local country, or resort to outsourcing the task to independent contractors or dedicated companies from remote parts of the globe?

Outsourcing to a Medical Coding Company

Obviously, the main advantage of an outsourced coding company lies in the cost-cutting factors. Transcription tasks when outsourced to countries like India and the Philippines could have significantly lower salary rates as compared to the country’s own. Aside from the salary rates, another reason which triggered the sprouting of outsourced medical coding is the fact that there have been few qualified medical coders in the United States in recent years, with the average age of medical transcriptionists (from recent available stats) said to be 55 years.

Outsourcing to a US Based Medical Coding Company

But there are a few good reasons why one might consider choosing U.S-based coding companies today, whether in-house or remote. While local medical coding still hasn’t matched up with the low cost of outsourced versions, coding companies have inched closer in terms of producing quality coders ready for deployment.

A lot of medical transcription programs have surfaced and are governed and certified by HIPAA standards. This gives the employers an option to go back to an in-house medical coding department which is arguably conducive for manageability, security, and communication. Not to mention the fact that genuine native English speakers are the ones transcribing who most likely have more command and comprehension of the English language. Moreover, it would be easier to address logistical and any potential legal problems when the company one is up against is residing on home soil.

While outsourcing is the current trend today in many fields, it is a great solution for physicians and hospitals to know that they can still find a good medical coding company  locally. With local companies working to improve quality while reducing costs to be competitive with overseas prices, the playing field might just be leveled sooner than expected.