Is AI Making Medical Coding a Bad Career Choice? Here's an Honest Answer
Reviewed by Dr. Jaime Nguyen, MD, MPH, MS, Senior Academic Director of College and Career
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If you're thinking about a career in medical coding, you've probably run into a headline or two suggesting AI could be taking jobs.
It's a fair question!
We sat down with Dr. Jaime Nguyen, Penn Foster's Director of Healthcare Programs, to talk through what's actually happening in medical coding right now. She's a physician with a background in clinical care, public health, and healthcare compliance, and she oversees more than 50 healthcare programs. Here's what she had to say.
Key takeaways
- Medical coding falls under the category of medical records specialists, but the two jobs aren't the same. Much of the alarming data concerns jobs centered on data processing, while coding requires interpretation and judgment
- Automation isn't new to healthcare. Scheduling, referrals, lab processing, and insurance claims have used automation for years. What's changed is how much people are talking about it.
- AI handles routine coding well but struggles with context. The work that requires judgment, interpretation, and auditing is where coders matter most.
- Entry-level roles are genuinely harder to break into than they used to be. This is the honest part, and worth knowing before you start a Medical Coding Program.
- Certification, comfort with technology, and specialization are what set coders apart now. While it’s not a guarantee of job security, these things can help you stand out, whether you’re new to the field or a skilled professional.
Is AI replacing medical coders?
Not in the way most headlines suggest—but the job is changing, and Dr. Nguyen doesn't sugarcoat that.
"There has certainly been a growing concern on how AI is going to affect the medical coding profession," she says, but part of the confusion comes from how we think about AI and automation in the first place.
"I think a lot of people assume that automation changes jobs in an all-or-nothing way: either a role is safe or technology, automation, or AI will eliminate it," she says. "In some cases and in some industries, that might be true. In healthcare, however, that’s not always the case "
It's also important to remember that automation isn't new. Healthcare has used technology and automation for decades for appointment scheduling, creating referrals, submitting prior authorizations, and lab specimen processing. "Automation and AI have also been in medical coding for a long time, with transcription tools, claims and bill processing, and computer-assisted coding," Dr. Nguyen says. "With advanced generative AI and autonomous systems, we’re talking about it more now because these are accelerating our industry and we need to be prepared for it."
Read more: 10 Medical Certifications That Pay Well
What the "most AI-exposed jobs" data actually measures
Data from Anthropic ranks medical records specialists among the most AI-exposed occupations in the country.
The key, however, is that although medical records specialists and medical coders have overlapping responsibilities, the nature of their work differs.
"The most vulnerable jobs to AI are those that are not just administrative but are primarily repetitive, rule-based, and with high-volume workflows. Can AI perform the specific tasks of organizing information, identifying patterns, generating recommendations based on empirical evidence, and flag potential errors to improve efficiency, costs, and patient outcomes?” Dr. Nguyen explains. "A lot of what medical records specialists do fall under this kind of work and are susceptible to automation. Although medical coders may do some of these functions, it’s only a small part of a coder’s job. A larger part is looking at context and interpreting the codes, which are much harder to automate."
That distinction is extremely important; a role where the automatable portion is nearly everything is in a very different position from one where it's a slice of the work.
What AI does well in medical coding
AI is genuinely good at some parts of coding—the most repetitive parts.
Routine outpatient coding is the clearest example.
"Medical coding is easier in outpatient settings, such as a medical office or an urgent care center, because it’s less complex and a single encounter. It’s very common to see the same diseases in a lot of patients: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes," Dr. Nguyen says. "This makes it very easy for AI to code this again and again and again. The documentation is shorter and the coding system is more straightforward."
There's real upside here, too. When automation handles the repetitive work, it can reduce claim denials, flag potential errors before they become compliance problems, help detect fraud, and support better patient outcomes. Those are good things for patients and for the people who work in healthcare.
What part of medical coding still needs a human
AI reads documentation by scanning for terms it can translate into codes. It doesn't always understand what those terms mean in context.
Medical coding still requires human clinical judgment and interpretation that automated systems cannot independently manage. "Context is critical in coding. For example, a provider could document, 'patient reports no history of diabetes,'" Dr. Nguyen says. "AI can scan that, see diabetes, and code that this patient has diabetes. It can’t really read for context, and this would be considered a coding error. A coder would read that and be able to see that the patient does not have diabetes."
When you multiply that mistake across a hospital's records, you have a compliance problem.
This is why Dr. Nguyen describes the AI shift as an opportunity for coders to do work that truly utilizes their skills, rather than focusing on repetitive processes.
"Once AI and automation removes these repetitive processes, now we're left with the work that medical coders can focus on and utilizing their knowledge and skills at the highest level of their training. We call that working at the top of your license." -Dr. Jaime Nguyen, MD, MPH, MS
For a medical coder, working at the top of your license means auditing complex documentation, catching the context errors software misses, and handling the specialty and inpatient cases where the clinical language is hardest to interpret.
| Category | Where automation handles it | Where coders are needed |
|---|---|---|
| Setting | Outpatient and routine office visits | Inpatient and hospital settings |
| Complexity | Common, repeated diagnoses | Complex or unusual diagnoses and treatments |
| Task | Matching documentation to standard codes | Auditing, interpreting, and correcting |
| Language | Straightforward clinical notes | Specialty language, ambiguous, or context-dependent notes |
| What it takes | Speed and volume | Judgment, clinical understanding, and accountability |
Is it harder to get started as a medical coder now?
Yes. This is the part you should know before you enroll anywhere.
"The biggest impact of AI will be in the entry level roles, but that’s not unique to medical coding but a healthcare industry reality. It’s really any position where it's usually more repetitive, process driven," Dr. Nguyen says. "So, these entry level coders may face an even a harder time entering the workforce."
The reason is structural: the routine outpatient work that used to be a new coder's training ground is exactly the work automation handles best.
"In the past you'd be able to work a little bit in a medical office to gain experience, and then start advancing," she says. "I think the case now is new coders may need to be better prepared than in the past to be more competitive."
That's not a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to prepare differently.
Read more: Compare Online Medical Coding Programs
How to make yourself more employable as a coder
Dr. Nguyen named three things, in this order.
1. Get certified
Certification is the baseline. The Certified Professional Coder (CPC) credential is widely regarded as the gold standard in the field, and earning it is what can help gets your resume noticed.
"First and foremost, that will open a lot of doors when an employer sees the CPC certification after your name," she says. “In many cases, employers may require certification.”
2. Get comfortable with the technology
You don't need to be technical. You do need to be familiar with the tools you may be using on the job.
"Being more adept and knowledgeable about the different AI and automation tools will be important, including how adaptive learning and language tools are being used in healthcare settings and in coding,” Dr. Nguyen says.
Understanding what these tools do well (and what they don't do well) can help make a coder valuable rather than redundant.
3. Specialize
"Medical coding specialties, is a lot harder for AI to interpret," Dr. Nguyen says. "Oncology specialties, cardiovascular thoracic surgeries, and more complex procedures—it's harder for AI to really understand that language. That's where our learners can be more competitive and more employable."
The pattern holds across settings, too. Inpatient and hospital coding involves more complex diagnoses and more specialized language than routine outpatient work, which makes it harder to automate and more dependent on a trained human.
Read more: Which Medical Coding & Billing Certification Exam Should You Take — the CBCS or CPC?
So, is medical coding still a good career?
Medical coding isn't a bad career because of AI. But it is a career where the entry point has moved. The routine and standardized functions that once served as on-the-job training is increasingly becoming automated, which means the skills that used to come after a few years of work now need to come sooner.
If you go in expecting to learn on simple outpatient claims for two years before advancing, you may find that path narrower than it was. If you go in certified, comfortable with the technology, and building toward a specialty, you're preparing for the part of the job that still needs a human with high-level of judgement.
"I don't think medical coding will go away," Dr. Nguyen says. "But how do we adapt? How do we prepare our learners who are entering medical coding to be more competitive?"
As someone in a medical coding role, or considering joining the field, it’s the right question to ask. Being adaptable and willing to grow your skills can go a long way.
Read more: Top Healthcare and Medical Careers
FAQs about AI and medical coding
Will AI eliminate medical coding jobs?
AI is already changing medical coding jobs. Automation handles routine, repetitive coding well, which affects entry-level outpatient roles most. The auditing, interpretation, and specialty work that makes up the majority of a coder's job is much harder to automate.
What's the difference between a medical coder and a medical records specialist?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the formal occupation category for “Medical Records Specialists” officially includes medical coders, though the roles differ in practice, especially as it relates to automation.
A medical records specialist's work is largely data processing. A medical coder spends most of their time interpreting documentation, auditing for accuracy, and applying judgment to complex cases. That difference is why the two roles face very different levels of automation.
Do I still need to get certified to be a medical coder?
Certification matters more now, not less. It's how employers screen candidates, and it signals that you can do the work that isn't automated.
What should I specialize in?
Areas with complex clinical language, such as oncology, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, and dental coding, are hardest to automate. Inpatient and hospital coding also tends to involve more complexity than routine outpatient work.
Is it too late to start a career in medical coding?
No, but preparation matters more than it used to. Certification, familiarity with coding technology, and a specialty focus are what can distinguish a candidate now.
Thinking about medical coding? Request more information about Penn Foster's Medical Coding Professional Career Diploma or enroll now. Or, compare medical coding programs to find the best one for you!
