Do you want to join the frontlines of healthcare, but not sure if direct patient care is right for you? If you are still interested in helping others and enjoy anatomy, then becoming a medical biller is a great career opportunity.
What Does a Medical Biller Do?
Medical billers fulfill an important role on the healthcare team. They perform task that ensure proper functioning of the day-to-day operations within a medical facility. Medical billers manage health billing and insurance claims for medical facilities. Their primary responsibilities include:
Transcribe and File Medical Information
As a medical biller, you will compile health information data, transcribe, and file complete medical histories of patients that are seen at your medical facilities. You will also document symptoms, examination results, treatment methods, and diagnoses prescribed by the patient’s healthcare provider.
Submit Medical Information to Electronic Health Records
The safe gathering and storage of medical information is critical to ensure that patients receive the proper treatment and healthcare. This medical information must be organized, and its accuracy must be verified, prior to entering the data into an electronic health record.
Transcribing Data into Billing Codes
Insurance companies and Medicare pay most healthcare bills in America; they need large volumes of information to process claims. Medical billers manage the process by translating medical information into alphanumeric codes that serve as shorthand.
Troubleshooting Rejected Claims
Some insurance claims are initially denied. They may be denied due to coding errors or missing data. However, the payments are critical to keep physician’s offices helping patients, so medical billers review rejected claims, working directly with the insurance company or Medicare to ensure quick reimbursement.
Why Does a Medical Biller Need to Learn Anatomy?
Medical billers don’t make clinical decisions, yet everything they do requires an understanding of how the body is made. Without an anatomy course, reading through charts to identify the health information necessary to process medical bills and fill out insurance claims would be almost impossible.
What Type of Anatomy Do Medical Billers Need to Learn?
Medical billers don’t need in-depth anatomy courses like doctors do because they don’t use the medical information to make life and death decisions. The course helps medical billers find their way around a chart by covering the 14 body systems, coding protocols and other anatomical terminology. Students learn about the:
14 Body Systems
From the nervous system to the immune system and everything in between, knowing the 14 body systems allows a medical biller to properly manage patient files, fill out insurance claims and process medical bills. Knowing medical terminology is an important aspect of the medical biller’s job.
Coding Protocols
There are three main coding protocols that you will learn during a medical billing program. The include ICD-10, CPT and HCPCS.
ICD-10 Codes
ICD-10 is one of the oldest coding systems in the world. Short for the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, codes are alphanumeric and have been used globally since 1977 to classify every disease, injury or symptom known to medicine.
CPT Codes
The CPT, or Common Procedural Code, is a five-digit numeric sequence assigned to all medical, surgical, or diagnostic procedures. Developed by the American Medical Association and updated annually, CPT codes are used for both reimbursement and to gather data on treatment outcomes that are used to evaluate quality of care.
HCPCS Codes
HCPCS, or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System, is a two-level alphanumeric system explicitly developed for CMS. Level I is the CPT index. Level II is a separate system that codes medical products from pharmaceuticals and prostheses to services such as anesthesia and radiology. There are 17 categories and counting, updates may occur as often as every six months.
What’s an Easy Way to Become a Medical Biller?
Learning medical billing on the job may leave knowledge gaps that can hamper your ability to do your job successfully. An easy way to become a medical biller is to attend a medical billing and coding program at a vocational school.
Why Become a Medical Biller?
Do you want to make a difference in the lives of others and enjoy a stable career? These are only a few of the many reasons to become a medical biller.
Make an Important Difference in the Lives of Others
Are you on the frontlines of healthcare as a medical biller? Yes, you are standing side by side with doctors, nurses and medical assistants helping patients enjoy better health outcomes. What you do as a medical biller allows doctors and nurses to see more patients and get reimbursed for health services provided to keep the lights on. The medical biller is a key team player at a medical facility.
Work in the Medical Field Without Working Directly with Patients
Are you interested in medicine but don’t want to directly manage patient care? You can still be a valuable part of the healthcare team as a medical biller and still help patients receive great healthcare. If you are passionate about medicine but not sure you want to deal directly with patients than consider becoming a medical biller.
Use Your Problem Solving and Research Skills
There is never a dull moment as a medical biller. There is always something to research or a problem to solve. Did an insurance claim get denied and you must come up with an appeal? Is a patient back due on their payments and you must create a suitable payment plan? Solving problems and doing research comes with the territory of being a medical biller. Become a sleuth and enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
Enjoy Job Stability and Future Career Growth
As the baby boomer generation ages and more patients are in need of healthcare, there will be an equal need for medical professionals. That does include doctors and nurses but also medical billers. Someone must manage the back office, insurance claims and patient billing. This means the job of a medical biller is stable, and the future is bright.
Enjoy a Sense of Independence
Although managed by physicians and nurses, most medical billers will work independently in the back office. They are responsible for their own work. However, they can ask questions if they are stumped by a problem. While still part of the overall team, if you don’t want to be micro-managed then being a medical biller may be the right job for you.
Complete a Relatively Quick Training Program
Most medical billing and coding programs can be completed in months, rather than years. No need to attend a 2- or 4-year college to become a medical biller, a formal education from a vocational school will help you stand out in the crowd of applicants and get you noticed by employers.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know what a medical biller does, what they learn and that anatomy is a small part of the knowledge you will retain from a medical billing and coding program, it is time to learn more about Meridian College. Take the time to learn about our medical billing and coding program and the opportunities it will open for your future career path.
Did learning about anatomy and medical billing interest you? Ready to attend Medical Insurance Billing & Coding program at Meridian College? Medical Billing and Coding professionals are responsible for keeping the records, charts, and bills in a medical office in order. In addition to the classroom experiences, students will also complete an externship for on-the-job training that will bring them further expertise. Contact us to learn more about.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a medical billing and coding specialist.