Medical billing is one of the hottest careers to get into right now. With the advent of the aging baby boomers, and the Obama administrations pushing for everyone to have health coverage, the healthcare field as a whole is booming. Qualified personnel are needed to meet the growing demands of those now accessing the healthcare system.
Medical billing is a career that demands attention to detail and a desire to work in the healthcare field in an administrative and important way. Medical billers take the patient encounter that has been coded by a professional medical coder, and then uses their expertise, knowledge, and skills to bill the payer using software systems. The medical biller does more than data entry, but fast and accurate typing skills are a must. Medical billers know the ins and outs of each payer (insurer) contract. They are able to apply the contract rules, medical billing policies, and laws in order to accurately bill the payer for each patient encounter. Medical billers also follow up on unpaid or denied claims by researching and resubmitting.
Medical billing careers are abundant and lucrative. To obtain medical billing training it is important to have your career path in mind. Good medical billing training will ultimately prepare you for certification through a well-known entity such as the American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC). The AAPC has a new credential now available to assist medical billers in advancing their careers. Great medical billing training should contain a qualified medical billing training coach or instructor, a textbook that is well-known within the industry, and an online component of text and audio where are different types of learners (audio, visual, kinesthetic) learners are able to retain the information.
Medical billing training is vocational in nature and takes about 12 weeks to complete. Medical billing pay ranges from $12-$15 an hour and increases with certification, experience, and where one lives in the US. Proper medical billing training prepares the new medical biller for a lucrative and rewarding career that has many career paths including clinic billing, hospital billing, working as a medical billing auditor, or even for a payer as a medical claims adjudicator. Now is a great time to consider a career in medical billing by affording yourself excellent medical billing training.
By: Dawn Moreno, PhD, CBCS, CMAA, MTC. Dawn lives in the beautiful Southwest and has been a medical coding and billing instructor for over 7 years. Her joy is teaching adults new career skills.
