Medical Billing And Coding In Healthcare

The new job title could be a medical coder 1. I choose this new title because the medical coder is a health care professional who analyzes the medical records, medical charts and assigns the appropriate codes. Most of the job’s responsibilities of a medical coder are required for the inpatient and the outpatient coder’s jobs. For example, medical coder’s responsibilities are: reading and analyzing patient records, determining the correct codes for patient records, interacting with physicians and assistants to ensure accuracy, using codes to bill insurance providers, and maintaining patient confidentiality and information security. In addition, the minimum required certification of this job is CPC or CCS and RHIT with at least 4 years of experience. Those certifications are given to a Coder who can read and assign correct diagnosis International Classification of Diseases or ICD-10-CM, Current Procedural Terminology or CPT, supply Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System or HCPCS code for a wide variety of clinical cases and services, and read and assign PCS codes. The skills of this job are same as the skills of the

Medical billers and medical coders usually work normal business hours, with occasional overtime and weekends. There are several programs available in a variety of different degree options. Most employers’ requirements involve at least an associate degree. Although an associate degree tends to be the general standard in the industry, some employers may consider applicants whose post-secondary education is a specialized medical coding and billing diploma or certificate from a career school. The national average medical billing and coding salary is around $17 per hour, or around $35,920 annually. The lowest salary earners make around $10 per hour, or around $21 annually.

The most important element in becoming a Medical Billing and Coding Specialist is the training and certification need to enter the field and for advancement. You will need a program that provides an understanding of anatomy, physiology and medical terminology. This program should also navigate the three topics: ICD, CPT and HCPCS. These codes help you document the conditions of a patient and describe the procedure performed on the patient. When you have completed your training there are several certifications you can test for. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) offer certification for the Certified Coding Associate (CCA). You will need AHIMA membership and an exam fee ($199- $299), a high school diploma or

"Medical coding professionals provide a key step in the medical billing process. Every time a patient receives professional health care in a physician’s office, hospital outpatient facility or ambulatory surgical center (ASC), the provider must document the services provided. The medical coder will abstract the information from the documentation, assign the appropriate codes, and create a claim to be paid, whether by a commercial payer, the patient, or CMS." (Aapccom, 2015) It is very important that billing coders have a full understanding of how to properly use medical codes to prevent denial of claims submitted.

-Inpatient coders have certifications allowing them to work exclusively for hospitals or facilities. An expertise in medical record review is a must, along with an up to date status with coding rule changes, regulations and issues for medical coding, reimbursements and compliance under MS-DRG and Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS). Coders should have experience as well as expert knowledge in abstracting information from medical records for ICD-9CM vol. 1-3, specialized payment in MS-DRG and IPPS.

This standardized dialect is also pertinent for medical schooling and teaching in addition to clinical research and studies conducted by scholars, scientists, and physicians by providing a valuable foundation for domestic and coast-to-coast operation evaluations. CPT is used to describe doctor’s services, a vast amount of administrative services in addition to operating services executed in medical facilities, treatment care centers, and outpatient divisions. Providing support for clerical duties and functions such as processing medical claims and initiating strategies and procedures for the evaluation of clinical care is another cause of relevance for CPT. The system also meets the need for tracking trends and identifying improvements, plus progression goals and scaling the value of healthcare services received by patients. The CPT coding system provides physicians throughout the United States with a consistent method for classifying and coding clinical procedures which in return provides a more efficient tool for recording and reporting task that were completed. Physicians, scholars and payors, have been dependent upon CPT to interconnect with other fellow associates, patients,

My career that I am researching for my junior project is Medical Coding and Billing. Medical Coding and Billing are two different jobs. Medical Coding is when a patient has any medical procedure or exam such as going to the doctor for the stomach virus or even going to the hospital for a broken bone. They work with the insurance companies by putting a specific number into the computer. There’s CPT Codes which stands for Current Procedural Terminology which is “ Codes to better understand the services their doctor provided, to double check their bills or negotiate lower pricing for their healthcare services. (About Health, 2014).”

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Medical Coding and Billing field is growing faster than any other field (Medical Billing & Coding Careers). The reason for this is that the more doctors’ offices open up, the more the need for medical billers and coders. As of today there are over 8000 codes being used to describe every procedure you can imagine (Sloviter, Sept-Oct 2009). Now think about being a doctor. It would be really hard for a doctor take care of his/her patients and keep track of all those codes. The field of medical coders and billers has a pay range of $8 to $10 per hour to start. However, that is also based on experience. The more experience, the more the pay. Considering that being the pay for full-time, plus any benefits such as vacation, health packages, and retirement packages – it may not seem like

I am very familiar with medical coding and understand how it is used because I worked in the medical field for many years, and I used those codes for much of that time. At my last job, I helped with the billing for some time, did the insurance referrals for several years and got the insurance pre-authorizations/pre-approvals

Skills I need to enhance: brushing up of Microsoft Excel skills, completion of a Master’s degree in health care administration with an AHIMA accredited university. Once these goals are attained, I can earn a Registered Health Information Administrator certification (RHIA) or a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) certification, and current work experience in health care administration.

Where professional medical billers and certified medical coders practice their trade affects their salary. Like any industry, the demand is higher in certain parts of the country, thus paying medical billers and coders a higher amount, and lower in other parts of the country, thus paying a lower rate. In the Pacific states of California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska, the average salary for all medical billers and medical coders is $53,633 per year. In New England, the average annual salary is $50,349.00. In regions where the cost of living is lower, such as in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, the average annual salary is $43,059.00. In general, the East and West Coasts pay $8,000 to $10,000 higher than the Midwest and

Medical billing and coding specialists deal with sensitive information on a daily basis. As a medical billing and coding specialist, you will handle provider, patient, and insurance information that must be kept secure at all times. You will also be responsible for facilitating the secure electronic and physical transference of sensitive medical information between these parties. Failing to perform your duties within the guidelines may result in a federal investigation. HIPAA was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996. Chief among the goals set forth by HIPAA was increased security and accountability when it comes to patient medical information. Specifically, HIPAA established guidelines that healthcare providers

Some office may require medical experience and certain degree/ certificate. I did a research at monster.com, almost all the companies require minimum of 1 year of experience and high school graduate. Insurance companies requirements are at least 2 years college, 2-3 years work experience or medical environment and must have the knowledge of CPT-4 and ICD-9 coding. Some offices like where I'm working at does not need any requirement, but you need to know the basic stuff, which are read, write and basic of computer uses.

In response to Jasmine Palma. I like how jasmine pointed out how we as medical assistance are trained in the area but do not specialize in it. Most of the larger medical facilities while have there own billing and coding specialist. although we do not specialize in Billing and Coding, it still falls under our scope of practice. Especially when it comes to smaller facilities who could save money by combining the roles. Even though its something M.As don't regularly do, it is still important that we learn to do it correctly so as we don't accidentally commit fraudulent activity. Great Work!

When it comes to remote coding, a health care employee uses their computer skill set to code medical records accurately. These employees must have the requirements of a computer degree to manage the records efficiently in the field of healthcare. This must be used by applying the knowledge of working with computer applications and package inherent with the healthcare management information system. With the information provided, the remote coders must apply the appropriate codes and submit them properly into the medical record system with assistance from the classification system software.