Medical billing and medical coding are both essential functions in the healthcare world. Medical billers submit claims to insurance companies, process payments, and follow up with claim disputes. Medical coders classify medical procedures, diagnoses, supplies, etc. into different codes in order to both summarize in medical reports and for billing purposes. Online medical billing and coding certification can help you to get into one (or both!) of these careers.
Where to Learn These Skills
You don’t need to receive official training or school in either medical billing or medical coding in order to find a job in one of these fields. However, people who have some sort of certification are more likely to get a job in areas where the market is saturated and are also typically able to secure higher salaries. Even if you are already working as a medical biller or a medical coder, getting certified can help you move up in your department or move on to a higher paying role.
You can get certified in both medical billing and medical coding through ExpertTraining. This is a trusted site for training, testing, and certification in hundreds of different subjects. If you already have the knowledge you need to succeed in a certain field but not the formal schooling to show it, getting an ExpertTraining certification is a simple and affordable way to show prospective employers that you are the perfect candidate for the job.
Many companies use ExpertTraining for their own testing and training purposes so they trust the name. ExpertTraining courses are also accredited through a variety of sources, dependent upon the exact certification you’re going for, so you can trust that the certificates you’re paying for are trusted in the professional world.
Get Certified in Medical Billing
Medical Billing is not often thought about as a career choice but it can be a great one, as medical billing professionals can earn around $36k per year. Medical billers submit medical bills to insurance companies, maintain patient records, deal with claim disputes, and follow up with insurance companies on behalf of patients.
ExpertRating’s Medical Billing course is designed for both people who want to work as medical billers in a hospital setting and those who want to work from home. It is a great way to get professionally certified, even if you have already been working as a medical biller and just want some additional training to help increase your salary.
The course has fourteen different chapters, the first being an overview of the course and an introduction to the author and the material that will be covered. The first actual lesson in the course starts in chapter two, where you will learn what you need to know to get started as a medical billing professional. It gives you an overview of what it is like working with insurance companies and goes over how to work with Medicare and Medicaid as well.
Lesson three deals with ethics and morals involved with medical billing. It also goes over laws involved with medical billing and The Confidentiality Act. Lesson four covers medical terminology so do not worry if you don’t already have a medical background!
Once you’ve got these basics down you’ll move on to chapter five where you’ll learn what it’s like working in a variety of settings, including private practices and hospitals. You’ll also learn what to expect in general when working as a medical biller.
Chapter six teaches you all about diagnostic procedures and how to deal with both inpatient and outpatient medical claims. Chapter seven is where you’ll get to the coding part of medical billing. You’ll learn how the coding system works and what you need to do in order to get the doctors you’re working for paid.
Chapter eight is titled “The Health Insurance Game”. This can be a complex thing to deal with in the United States. This section goes over different types of insurance, such as Managed Care Plans and Health Savings Accounts. In chapter nine you’ll learn all about filling out claims forms, figuring out payments, dealing with worker’s comp claims, and processing claims for Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and more.
Chapter ten is all about billing errors and chapter eleven is dealing with claim disputes. These are both things that can slow down the medical billing process. You’ll learn what common errors are made and how to deal with them and what do to when you’ve got a denied claim on your hands. Medical billing software is obviously a huge part of this whole process and you will learn about that in chapter twelve.
In the final chapters, you will learn about the job opportunities available for people with medical billing certificates and get some frequently asked questions answered. You’ll get an understanding of what types of skills and certifications employers are looking for, the different career opportunities available, and what you can do to optimize your resume and cover letter when searching for a job.
The great thing about this course is that you can start at any time and go at your own pace. There are no lectures to attend or deadlines to meet. Once you purchase the course, the entire thing is available to you right away so you can start learning on your own time. When you have completed all the lessons, there will be a final exam.
The questions on the exam are taken 100% from the Medical Billing course so you don’t need to worry about having any additional knowledge outside of what you’ve learned. You’ll get the results of your exam right away and if you’ve successfully passed, you’ll get a certificate sent to you to show off your new status as a Certified Medical Biller.
Medical Coding Certification
Medical Coding goes hand-in-hand with Medical Billing. A medical coder assigns specific codes to all the different medical procedures performed in order to properly bill them. Many people get jobs as medical coders without any sort of certification but having a certification shows new employers that you know your stuff and can even help you to earn a larger salary than if you would if you weren’t certified.
There are different versions of the ExpertRating Medical Coding Certificate available so do keep that in mind when reading this summary. Any version of the course will cover coding manuals and how to code for various procedures, symptoms, illnesses, etc. but there is one version that goes over some aspects of medical billing and another version that does not cover these at all. The exact coding books used may also differ.
The medical coding certification class has twelve chapters. The first two go over the basics of medical coding and how it is used in the real world. The next two go over the materials you’ll be using as coding references: the CPT Manual and the ICD-10-CM. The first is where you’ll find codes for procedures and treatments. The second is where you’ll find codes for symptoms, illnesses, conditions, etc. that patients may have. These are the key sources you’ll need when looking for codes.
Lessons 5-10 discuss coding related to specific body systems. These are the integumentary (skin) system, the musculoskeletal system, the respiratory system, the cardiovascular system, the digestive and endocrine systems, and the genitourinary systems. Each system-specific lesson goes over the various symptoms, conditions, and illnesses related to the system that you may need to code as well as the procedures performed by doctors that deal with these systems.
Lesson 11 goes over Evaluation and Management Codes or E/M. This lesson allows you to practice looking at the different components of any service that falls under E/M and then figure out how to code those services correctly. The final lesson is Surgical Packages and Modifiers. Surgical packages are essentially what they sound like, the package of services typically involved with surgery. The modifiers are used to show special circumstances that fall outside of the surgical package.
At the end of the course, you’ll have practiced medical coding quite a bit and you’ll have a chance to pull together all the different skills you’ve learned with one last coding assignment. Depending on which version of the course you take, there will be different assignments for each chapter as well as chapter quizzes to test your knowledge.
Regardless of which version of the course you take, all materials within the course will be available to you 24/7 while taking the course. The final exam will cover all the material in the course and once you have passed it successfully, you’ll receive your certification in the mail so that you can display it proudly!
Move into a New Career
Many people may want to be involved in healthcare but just don’t know how to get into it. Going to medical school and even nursing school can be expensive and takes many years of schooling before you can even move into the field. Medical billing and medical coding are both great ways to work in a hospital and do work that helps patients, without having to go back to school for 2 years, 4 years, or even more. Online medical billing and coding certification can be completed in just a few weeks. This is a great way to move into a new career and start helping patients quickly.