By Dorothy G Johnson
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6880601
The medical billing/coding career is one of the well-paid jobs in the medical sector. Medical billing and medical coding are two different careers. The former is responsible for processing insurance claims. The latter, on the other hand, deals with coding insurance claims. Essentially, these two professions tackle a lot of paperwork about insurance claims, medical data formatting, and so on. The assignment of the latter comes first then the former's job.
Some of the tasks of medical billers
• Reviewing patient's insurance coverage
• Estimating how much the patient should pay for the service he or she has received
• Preparing of claims
• Explaining physician's fee
• Maintaining patient confidentiality
Some of the responsibilities of medical coders
• Assigning of codes from patient's records
• Entering of those codes and records into a database
• Filling insurance claims
• Corresponding with insurance companies
• Dealing with bill charges and collections
• Explaining and answering patient's questions about his claims
Certification for medical billing/coding
Although you can still work as a medical biller/coder with your associate's degree or bachelor's degree, you will be better paid when you obtain medical billing/coding certification. Essentially, a certified medical biller/coder is qualified for the best jobs available and will receive higher pay than those with no certification.
Requirements to obtain certification in this profession
• Obtain associate's degree or bachelor's degree
• Gain the medical billing/coding education. This is essential in order to get acquainted with numeric or alphanumeric codes. Medical biller/coder assigns these codes to the patient's diagnosis and treatment procedures.
There are various community colleges and online schools that offer medical billing/coding education programs.
These programs will tackle the following areas:
- Medical terminology
- Database management
- Anatomy
- Physiology
- Data analysis
- Clinical classification and coding systems
- Health data requirements and standards
The time frame to finish a technical health education program will depend on the program you want to take.
Industries where medical billing/coding professionals can work for:
- Hospitals. They had the highest levels of employment in this profession, as of May 2010.
- Doctor's office. This industry had the highest concentration of employment in medical billing/coding.
- Nursing care facilities
- Outpatient care centers
- Federal government
- Business, professional, labor, and political organizations
The states with the highest employment level in medical billing/coding are California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.
Salary
The salary in the medical billing/coding field will depend on the place you are going to work. For instance, you can earn higher if you work in big hospitals than if you work in small-scale hospitals. However, you can receive higher salary package even if you work in a village. This happens when you have obtained certifications and the substantial amount of experience in this field.
Thinking about a career in medical billing and coding? Find out what the minimum medical coding training is and much more from What is Medical Billing and Coding.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6880601