medical coding training at home.
If you are looking for a career in the office or administrative line but would like to earn more than a plain office clerk, then medical billing and coding jobs can be the perfect career option. Those who are currently doing clerical or administrative job can add a medical billing and coding certification to their kitty and move onto a better salary. However, this is not job for young restless youth as it requires a lot of patience and concentration.
Every year, a number of medical billing and coding jobs go unfilled due to a shortage of trained professionals. These jobs exist in every medical institute and Insurance Company, private nursing homes etc chalking up the substantial demand. The lack of trained professionals can be chalked up to a lack of advertisement and insight into this particular field.
While the name, medical billing and coding, gives you the impression that this job involves medical or coding knowledge; in reality it is more of a book keeping job. The codes here refer to alphanumeric codes that stand for various medical duties and practices, that are used in lieu of the actual medical terms while drawing up bills for patients or insurance firms. And a medical billers' job is pretty much that of any billing clerk, except that he or she needs to an intrinsic knowledge of the medical codes and the rules and regulations that govern medical billing. Any medical billing and coding training pretty much covers this.
The salary is quite competitive and the job demands attention to details and tremendous concentration and patience. A little bit of investigative tendency may be an added bonus, because many a time you may need to chase down a number and a code to solve an errant bill.
Medical billing and coding jobs can either be full time and part time both, depending on the size and requirement of the employer. So be prepared to work long hours or weekends if you are looking to earn some extra cash. Agencies however do not encourage work from home as sensitive data is involved and often one Medical biller and one medical coder work together to process the large amount of work for an organization. However, there is also a career opportunity in opening your own Medical billing and coding business from home, if you have the right credentials and contacts.
Getting back to salary prospects, it can vary from company to company. Insurance companies and private medical facilities can pay more than government or social health care organizations. On the other hand established, reputed government run medical institutes are known to pay quite well as well. It also depends on the location of the medical facility, quite like school districts. More urban and posh the area, better the salary for the same job.
A Medical billing clerk may earn $10 to $15 an hour, but a medical billing and coding clerk can earn up to $18 an hour. For a permanent job, you might be looking at a salary between $30,000 and $40,000 annually. Considering Medical billing and coding training can be managed within $500, the turnaround is not bad.
Apart from a career as medical billing and coding experts, the training and expertise can open up career prospective in book keeping, and general billing in other non-health related fields as well. Of course with number of private health care agencies and insurance providers increasing every year, finding a job in the health care industry may not be hard. It can also be a career choice for those who like to work in the health industry.
It is highly likely that you have seen ads where employers are wanting medical billing and coding professionals. They are two of the most important careers in the healthcare industry, which is in high demand.
Though surely this is not the first time that you have heard about these terms, but do you really know what a medically billing and coding person does?
Both medical billing and coding belong to the group of service providers to doctors, who are too immersed in their professions to have the time to file for insurance claims to get paid for their services. Most patients today are tied with health insurance companies who pay for their healthcare needs. But how does the doctor get paid? They have to file claims for reimbursements for the services rendered to their patients. It is at this juncture that the medical billing and coding professionals step in.
A person knowledgeable in medical billing and coding is usually considered an expert in his field because of their highly-developed skills. These professionals are remunerated according to their training, experience, skills and the effective application of these skills. It is said that a medical billing or coding person can earn any where between $33,370 and $415,061 annually. This kind of income surely attracts many ambitious individuals in this field.
Which are the people or institution who seeks the help and support of medical billing and coding personnel? These would normally include physicians, clinics, hospitals, and patients in handling allied health issues. Also included are various medical offices and health insurance companies, and many more allied institutions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical billing, coding and health information technicians are among the ten fastest growing careers in the healthcare industry.
It is important however to note that entering either medical billing of coding profession is an easy task. These jobs require a high degree of skill, expertise and experience in handling several important and critical areas of healthcare management including billing and accounts receivable, medical office management, insurance claims processing, submitting claims, etc.
The whole process of medical billing and coding would start much ahead of the patient actually turning up at the medical center and finishes long after the patient has been diagnosed and prescribed medicines. This is to avoid any delay, inaccuracy or miscommunication during filing for insurance claim. Hence it is important to verify and rectify the insurance benefits much before the patient lands up at the clinic. After the doctor has seen the patient, his observations are recorded in the medical record which is converted into appropriate codes for coding the insurance claim.
While undoubtedly medical billing and coding can become a very challenging career it could be rewarding too if you can become an expert in the field. With proper education and training, the sky is the limit as far as your personal achievements are concerned in this field.
One of the best parts about this profession is that depending on the company that you work for, you could do the job from home too. This is a very viable option for many who enter this profession. All you need to do is to consult your local college or adult education center and make enquiries about the details about their medical billing and coding programs.
medical coding training at home.