Need a Medical Billing and Coding Degree ?

Do you know that medical records and health information technicians held about 172,500 jobs in 2009?*

About 39% of these jobs were in hospitals, health information technicians work at a number of healthcare providers such as offices of physicians, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and home healthcare services. These technicians also may be employed outside of healthcare facilities, such as Federal Government agencies. Are your looking to work in the medical record profession? Do you want to advance your career in the billing and coding field? Search no more, we are offering the Medical Billing and Coding career, which can be completed in as little as 21 months.

Medical Billing and Coding

Every time a patient receives any type of health care services, whether in a doctor’s office, a hospital outpatient department, or in an ambulatory surgical center, the provider must turn the services provided into codes to produce a medical insurance claim. The insurance claim will them be paid by a commercial payer, Medicaid, Medicare, or by the patient as a reimbursement for procedures and services performed by providers.

The Medical Biller and Coder usually work closely with patients and providers to ensure that all claims are accurate and all invoices are paid properly. The Medical coder’s main responsibility is to accurately code the insurance claims. To achieve that, the coder uses different sources in the patient’s medical record, such as the transcription of the physician’s notes, laboratory tests, and imaging studies.

Medical Coding:

The medical coder must have a through knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, human diseases, medical insurance, CPT (Current Procedural Terminology), ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification), HCPCS level II (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System, used by Medicare), HIPAA guidelines, law, ethics, and liability issues in the medical field.

A professional coder is capable of:

• Assigning accurate coded for the physician’s diagnoses.
• Procedures, and services received by the patient during the patient’s encounter with the health care provider.

Other responsibilities:

• Auditing charts, files, and appeals of denied claims.
• May act as an advocate for the patient and the provider in issues related to their insurance coverage.

Medical Billing:

Medical Billing is another aspect of the profession of medical billing and coding. The medical biller’s primary responsibility is to make sure that the health care provider receives reimbursement for their services.

A medical biller mainly gathers the dates and information pertaining to the bill. The biller ensures that all insurance forms are completed, signed, and that all data is entered into the computer.

Medical billers work with other health care professionals to obtain any additional information that they may need. Just as medical coders, medical billers need to have thorough knowledge in areas like medical terminology, CPT, ICE-9-CM, HCPCS level II, medical insurance, and HIPAA guidelines.

Other responsibilities:

• Collecting payments
• Making adjustments
• Interpreting Explanation of Benefits (EOBs)
• Handling denied claims, and processing appeals

Medical Billing and Coding is part of the broader profession of Health Information Management (HIM).

Medical Billing and Coding Graduate Success Story

Britney Johnson one of our many successful Medical Billing and Coding graduates stated: I graduated from City College with an Associate degree in Medical Billing and Coding. Before I enrolled, I was working as a patient scheduler at Shands Hospital. I wanted to get ahead in my career and further my education. City College gave me the knowledge I needed to be successful in my new job.

If you want to advance in the medical billing and coding field please click here

 *Source: BLS