Looking for Career Paths That Could Offer Flexible Work Arrangements? 4 Potential Options in Healthcare

Key Insights:

• Many healthcare careers require you to perform your job duties at at physical location. However, some positions in this field can offer flexible work arrangements, such as the ability to work from home, depending on the employer, role requirements, and applicable regulations.
• Medical biller and coder, health information technician, customer service representative, and medical transcriptionist are examples of healthcare jobs that, depending on the employer and work setting, may provide flexible work options.
• If you’re unsure which healthcare career path could be a good fit for you, Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) is here to help. We can discuss available options and connect you with team members who can assist with financial aid guidance (for those who qualify), admission, and more.

When considering flexible work options, the healthcare industry might not instantly come to mind. This is understandable since healthcare is typically associated with patient care, which often involves face-to-face interaction, such as when working as a doctor or nurse.

But not all healthcare positions require that you report to a brick-and-mortar building, or even that you work directly with patients. Some non-clinical roles may allow for remote or flexible arrangements, subject to employer policies. This is good news if you’re interested in working in the healthcare industry but also want a career with flexibility.

Healthcare Careers With the Potential for Flexible Work

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects roughly 1.9 million openings in healthcare occupations between 2024 and 2034.¹ Which of these may offer the potential for flexible arrangements, such as being a work-from-home job? Here are four to consider.

#1: Medical biller and/or coder

Although medical billing and coding are often lumped together, they’re actually different healthcare roles:

• Medical billing involves sending healthcare claims to insurance providers for reimbursement. Depending on the patient’s coverage, deductibles, and co-insurance provisions, it might also involve billing them directly for their portion of the expense.
• Medical coding consists of taking a patient’s diagnoses, testing procedures, and treatment plans and assigning them a code using standard coding systems. These codes are used for billing purposes to determine reimbursement rates. They also help track public ²health.

Some healthcare organizations hire employees to provide only medical billing or only medical coding services. Others combine these roles into one position: medical biller and coder. Individuals in a dual role perform both functions, assigning the proper codes and then using those codes to submit bills for reimbursement. Since each involves working on a computer, there’s a possibility that they can be done remotely.

This role requires an understanding of standard procedural and diagnostic coding systems, medical terminology, the claims cycle, and claims processing. An educational program can provide this knowledge, preparing you for this type of healthcare role.

Learn More: UMA’s Medical Billing and Coding Program Options

#2: Health information technician

Health information technicians help healthcare agencies manage their patients’ private medical information. This typically involves working within an electronic health record (EHR) system, which is a digital medical record that houses patients’ contact information, medical diagnoses, test results, treatment protocols, and other important data. Health information techs can be tasked with creating, updating, retrieving, or storing this type of data.

Because a patient’s health information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), another important function of workers in this role is to protect this data so it is only accessible by those with the proper authorization.

Performing health information management job functions requires knowledge in topics relevant to this healthcare role — medical coding, the healthcare reimbursement cycle and processes, information technology, statistics, and healthcare law and ethics. Completing a healthcare education program that covers these topics can help you prepare for a health information management role.

Learn more: UMA’s Health Information Management Program Options

#3: Customer service or patient services representative

If you’re interested in entry-level healthcare roles and you’d like some level of personal interaction, a customer service representative position could satisfy both desires while potentially offering flexible work arrangements.

Individuals in these types of roles help healthcare organizations handle their incoming calls. This may involve answering patients’ questions about insurance claims or working to resolve their complaints about an unsettled issue.

Some customer service reps also initiate calls on the organization’s behalf. This could occur if the facility is updating or changing its services, for instance. Or you could be tasked with calling patients to assess their level of satisfaction with the services they received.

Depending on the healthcare organization’s hours of operation, a customer service representative may work early in the morning, late at night, or on weekends and holidays. You generally need a high school diploma to enter this position and receive on-the-job training to learn the specific skills required.⁶

That said, some employers may require or prefer applicants with a postsecondary education. A formal education may also be required (or helpful) for individuals who wish to advance into a higher-level role later in their career.

#4: Medical transcriptionist

Medical transcriptionists convert healthcare professionals’ audio recordings to written statements and reports. This can help healthcare providers keep their patient files up to date while also enabling them to create written documents that may be needed, such as patient referrals or discharge summaries.

Some medical transcriptionists work in healthcare offices, while others may enjoy work-from-home flexibility, receiving and submitting materials electronically. Working from home may enable medical transcriptionists to perform job functions outside of typical business hours, providing the ability to set their own schedule.⁷

Because transcriptionists convert audio files to text, knowledge of medical terminology is required. Understanding anatomy, healthcare documentation laws, and English grammar are also important. Therefore, employers generally require some type of postsecondary education to enter this field.⁹

Begin Working Toward Your Healthcare Career Today

If you have a passion for the healthcare industry but also want the flexibility to work from home, these four roles may align with your interests.

Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) offers many healthcare programs designed to help students pursue their healthcare education both online and in a blended format at our Clearwater Campus. This enables you to choose the area that interests you most while providing the education and skills needed to serve in a specific healthcare role.

If you know that you want to work in healthcare but are unsure of what role might be for you, we can help with that as well. Contact us, and we can chat. We’d be glad to answer any questions you may have about the programs we offer and how they can help you reach your healthcare career goals.

FAQs

• What is a flex schedule? Short for flexible working schedule, a flex schedule can refer to a few different things. It may indicate that you can vary the times you work during the day (such as working 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. versus a traditional 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. schedule). Or it could indicate that you can work remotely. Availability of remote work is determined by employers and may vary.
• What is flexwork? Flexwork is another term for flexible working arrangements, which can involve choosing which hours you work during the day or may include working remotely.
• What does wfh mean? This is short for “work from home.” If you’re looking for work-from-home jobs, these healthcare roles — medical billing and coding, health information management, customer service representative, and medical transcriptionist — may provide this opportunity.