There are many reasons that people choose to become a medical biller or a medical coder. These jobs are in demand as there is an increased need for healthcare services due to increased population and the need for skilled medical coders and billers. Medical coders and medical billers are two distinct and separate jobs, though in smaller medical offices, one person may do both jobs. Getting a job as a medical biller usually requires getting certified after completing a training program.
What can you expect from your first year working as a medical biller? These are things you can anticipate as you gain work experience working in medical billing.
Going Through Training and Getting Certified
Though most states do not require certification to work as a biller and coder, but most employers look for it. Insurance claims can be denied if the information in the claim is coded incorrectly or if the claim is not adequately scrubbed by the medical biller. The revenue cycle of the medical office can be negatively impacted if the submitted claims do not follow the guidelines of the insurance payers. For this reason, medical facilities look for certified medical billers.
Enrolling in a robust training program for medical billing and coding is the first step to becoming a medical biller. After completing training, you will take your certification exam and you can start applying to medical billing jobs.
Once You’re Certified – Apply to Jobs
Once you’ve graduated, your training program and got a medical billing certificate, it’s time to apply for jobs. Third-party billing companies may be an easier place to get your first medical billing position than in-house billing. The upside is third-party billing companies will give you the hands-on training you need to work for any number of clients in-house.
Billing, in general, is a bit easier to get an entry-level job in than coding, so this may be a way to quickly get work experience as you start your career.
Billing vs Coding as a First Job
There are many ways to get your first job and gain experience in medical billing and coding. Many people report that it might be slightly easier to land a medical billing job with no prior work experience versus a medical coding job. Look in your area and apply for both types of jobs. You can always apply for a different position later and having hands-on experience will help you advance your career.
Learning Medical Terminology
This is a big one, and something your training program should spend an adequate amount of time teaching you. Getting familiar with medical terminology and what these words mean will be vital for success in your medical billing career.
Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the entire process of collecting revenue from patient services. This process tracks each patient’s visit from appointment to medical services, to coding to claims submission, to payer reimbursement, and to patient billing. RCM is one of the main responsibilities of a medical biller, ensuring that their medical facility collects and manages the revenue they are due.
Problem Solving
There is a learning curve when it comes to learning payer guidelines. Each of the insurance companies has different criteria for approving reimbursement. Retaining Information is crucial in this job. Problem solving also comes into play when scrubbing claims for submission. There is a lot of information to retain about each insurance company and each specialty.
Communication is Key
You must have lots of patience and good communication skills to work as a medical biller. Talking with insurance payers and fixing claim submissions can be stressful, so maintaining professionalism is important. Ideally, you’ll be able to keep a calm demeanor and communicate with patients and insurance companies.
Good Attitude – Be Easy to Work With
Medical coding and billing knowledge helps you immensely when you are first starting out as a medical biller, but a good attitude is vital for this type of work. Because insurance payers each have different formats and details, they look for in claims submissions, patience and attention to detail s needed. When claims are denied, billers must call the insurance company and spend a lot of time on the phone. You don’t have a choice but to deal with these types of problems each day.
Hiring managers want to hire candidates with a strong work ethic, a good attitude, and a humble outlook. It’s easier to hire someone who can be trained instead of someone with years of bad habits and a poor attitude.
Get Experience – Keep Learning
You can learn a lot about medical billing in school, but going through the real world experience will teach you about how operations work in practice.
Medical coders and medical billers are responsible for making sure the medical facility gets paid for their work, primarily by the insurance companies. The work you do each day will depend on the employer. Larger facilities may have an entire medical billing team with different people handling separate duties. Some of the various duties you will have include:
· Accounts receivable
· Claims scrubbing and submission
· Calling insurance companies
· Fixing denied claims
· Reviewing contractual agreements
· Checking claim status
· Follow up on unpaid claims
· Payment posting
· Follow up on collections
Become a Medical Billing and Coding Specialist in 36 to 42 Weeks
If you’re excited to start your career as a medical biller and coder, Campus Sacramento, formerly MTI College, has an online program that will give you the training you need to begin your career. Our Medical Billing and Coding Professional program will teach you vital coding and billing skills in 36 to 42 weeks (depending on transferrable credits). You can start your new professional healthcare career in less than a year. For more information, contact our Admissions team or call 888-675-2460.