Today we celebrate Medical Billers everywhere! That’s because Thursday March 31, 2016 has been declared National Medical Biller’s Day. Medical Billers are healthcare professionals that help patients, care providers, and insurance companies by processing claims in a timely manner. They may also play a key role in ensuring the overall medical office is running efficiently. A job as a Medical Biller is extremely important and all of us here at Training Direct want to give props to all of our Medical Billing and Coding students, graduates, and faculty as well as all of the hard working Medical Billers out there already working in the healthcare field!
What does a Medical Biller Do?
Those working in Medical Biller jobs perform a number of administrative tasks on a daily basis. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the tasks a medical biller may perform.
- Protect the security of a patient’s medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
- Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
- Retrieve patient medical records for use by physicians, technicians, or other medical personnel.
- Process patient admission or discharge documents and forms.
- Resolve or clarify codes or diagnoses with conflicting, missing, or unclear information by consulting with doctors or others or by participating in the coding team’s regular meetings.
- Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
- Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems.
- Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
- Plan, develop, maintain, or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information.
- Post medical insurance billings.
- Process and prepare business or government forms
These are only a few potential job duties a Medical Biller may fulfill as part of their responsibilities. It’s important to always check specific job descriptions to see what each position (and employer) will require of their Medical Biller(s).
Those working in Medical Billing are key people in our healthcare system today. Even though we may not always see or speak with the Medical Biller when we go to our doctor’s office or the hospital, they are busy working behind the scenes to make sure our insurance claims are processed completely and accurately and our healthcare providers are paid for the services they have rendered.
How to Become a Medical Biller
For those interested in pursuing a career as a Medical Biller, this will typically involve post-secondary education and/or training. Programs can range from diploma/certificate programs up to associates degree programs. It’s important for someone to carefully look at their training options when selecting the program that is right for them. There’s no “set” program length that is better than all others, but students should choose the program that is going to best assist them in meeting their education/training goals. While this will vary from school to school, Medical Billing programs may cover relevant topics such as classification and medical coding systems, reimbursement methods, types of medical billing, health information technology programs/software, and more.b
Medical Billing and Coding Specialist Program at Training Direct
Are you living in Connecticut and want to train for a new career in the healthcare field? If so, Training Direct may be able to help and they welcome the opportunity to speak with you. The Medical Billing and Coding Specialist training program at Training Direct is geared towards preparing students to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain an entry-level position as a Medical Billing and Coding professional working in a healthcare facility.
The Medical Billing and Coding Specialist training program will provide students with the opportunity to learn basic knowledge and practical experience in terminology, procedures and techniques commonly encountered in the workplace by those working in Medical Billing and Coding.
Training Direct’s Medical Billing and Coding Specialist program is currently offered at our Bridgeport, CT school and our Danbury, CT school. Day, evening, and weekend classes are available, but schedule availability will vary by location.
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