Of course, the healthcare industry has always depended on recording and maintaining medical documentation to track patients’ diagnoses and treatments accurately. However, nowadays, the consistent evolution of electronic health records (EHR) has helped contribute to medical billing and coding career opportunities.
Whether you’re looking for a career focused around helping people, or the concept of becoming a medical coder and biller is appealing to you, embrace your passion of working in this area of healthcare. Training for a career in medical billing and coding could help you pursue your new career with as little as 4 weeks of training. Want to find out more? Explore why becoming a medical biller and coder could be the career for you!
Learn more about Training Direct’s medical billing and coding program today!
The day-to-day responsibilities of a medical biller and coder
So, you like the idea of becoming a certified medical biller and coder… but you’re probably wondering what you’ll do as a medical records specialist or medical biller daily? Well, in a medical billing and coding career, each shift may bring a variety of tasks and scenarios.
However, the key to a successful medical billing and coding career is how you plan your daily tasks. Structuring the day’s workflow could help you prioritize any urgent tasks. You can also allot time to ensure your insurance claim case files are up to date.
Now, once you’ve organized your day, your responsibilities could include:
- Reviewing and updating current patient records and cases
- Interpreting diagnostic codes and applying the relevant procedure codes
- Entering and updating your patients’ EHRs
- Submit medical billing codes to insurance companies for reimbursement
- Track insurance claims and resolve any denied claims
Ultimately, your role is to take information about patients and their treatments and record it promptly and accurately to ensure the healthcare facility and provider are reimbursed accordingly.
Attributes that could make you a good fit for the medical billing career path!
For many, the healthcare industry provides a fantastic prospect to provide care and assistance to people in their time of need. However, a medical billing and coding career offers this same great opportunity to aspiring healthcare workers who might prefer less direct patient interaction.
A great medical biller and coder also uses strong personal attributes while utilizing their administrative traits. For example, the soft skills often attributed to talented medical billing specialists and certified coders could include the following:
- Empathetic and caring
- Attention to detail
- Great communication skills
- Excellent time management
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Outstanding conflict resolution and problem solving skills
These individual qualities are consistently required throughout your role in a medical billing and coding career. Whether you’re utilizing medical billing software to update patient records and healthcare documentation or trying to resolve a denied insurance claim, your success as a medical biller and coder will not only rely on your technical skills but your soft skills as well.
Skills you will have to acquire to pursue a career in medical billing and coding
As you can imagine, a medical billing and coding career requires a mix of technical and administrative skill sets combined with a detailed understanding of medical terms and procedures. For example, as a medical billing specialist, you’ll need to be familiar with relevant clinical terms, laws, and programs you’ll be working with, which include:
- Medical terminology
- Physiology and the human anatomy
- Electronic health records
- Medical coding systems, including Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), and
- Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This medical knowledge base provides a platform as a medical coder to operate healthcare medical billing software programs. For example, when you are translating doctor’s notes on patients’ EHR or identifying the CPT code for the appropriate diagnosis.
In addition, it’s essential to integrate your technical skills as a medical billing and coding specialist. These skills are crucial when it comes to CPT coding and analyzing patient records data, utilizing various programs that incorporate:
- Insurance claims processing
- Billing and reimbursement systems
- Auditing, quality assurance, and compliance reviews
- Denial management and resubmissions
- Maintaining HIPAA regulations and medical coding guidelines
Is a medical billing and coding career a good fit for you?
Of course, similar to every profession, there are pros and cons in the role of a medical biller and coder. However, for many, the additional benefits of becoming a certified medical biller and coder can outweigh these.
For starters, the profession is one that could be viewed as stable and secure. This is because healthcare facilities will continue to need talented professionals to assist with their billing. Furthermore, a career in medical billing and coding may offer additional benefits, such as flexible employment options in a range of diverse work settings. Similarly, certified medical billers and coders may be able to also explore working outside of conventional clinical environments.
Why a career in medical billing and coding could be for you
With the continued adoption of EHRs, a medical billing and coding career has emerged as a popular career path for people seeking to join the healthcare sector. This is likely because tasks like filing insurance claims and entering a CPT code for the correct treatments can often be completed remotely.
As a result, medical billing and coding could provide an excellent opportunity to choose your preferred workplace location, employment status, and scheduled hours. Taking all of this into account, perhaps a career in medical billing and coding is an ideal pathway for you too.
Get ready to take the first leap toward your new career!
If you’ve always dreamed of working in the healthcare industry, then speak to Training Direct about training to pursue an exciting medical billing and coding career. You can learn the skills and knowledge needed from our team of industry experts in as little as 4 weeks. Once your training is completed, you are closer to pursuing a career as a certified medical biller and coder.
Our program provides both classroom instruction and hands-on practical training at our fantastic campus locations in Danbury, CT, and Bridgeport, CT. At Training Direct, we aim to help you become a medical billing and coding specialist. Upon successful completion of the program, you may also challenge a National Certification Exam. With as little as a month’s training, you could be on your way towards a new career. Learn more today!
