From the salary scale to the number of job opportunities to the potential for market growth, a medical coding and billing profession offers aspirants several reasons to opt for it as a steady career choice.
If you’re interested in understanding the key differences between the job duties, work environment and qualifications for medical coders and medical billers, read on!
· Job Description
Medical Coders: Patients’ medical records are comprised of complex data organized into a systematic chart. Medical coding is a specific kind of shorthand to summarize codes to facilitate the healthcare billing process. It is the duty of a medical coder to correctly assign medical codes to every aspect of the patient’s medical care. They do this by following the three main coding systems abbreviated ICD, HCPCS and CPT.
Medical Billers: The job of a medical biller is to prepare detailed and timely invoices for all insured medical care patients receive. This ensures that healthcare facilities are paid their dues for the procedures, tests and services they provided.
Depending on the kind of employer you have and the size of the healthcare facility, medical coding and medical billing can be overlapping functions.
Both occupations deal heavily with numbers and incumbents need to be particularly accurate and diligent while performing their job duties.
· Education Requirements
Although it is not a requirement to earn a bachelor’s degree in healthcare, certifications in medical coding and billing are a mark of accomplishment and as such, are preferred by employers.
The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is a reputed institute for medical coding and billing certification. Training programs for this certification vary in length—from 3 months to 6 months to 12 months.
If you don’t want to become certified, there is the option of a two-year associate’s degree programs and a four-your bachelor’s degree program. However, it’s important to ensure that the training school you pick is accredited by the AAPC and is a legitimate for-profit medical school.
· Work Environment
Both medical billers and medical coders typically work in a physician’s office, a medical center or a healthcare insurance agency. These can be of large scale or even one-or two-person offices.
You have the option to work either full-time or part-time, depending on your employer. There are also several job opportunities for medical coders and billers to work from home. Some work on a contract basis and provide services for a limited time period.
As the U.S population ages, the job outlook for medical billers and medical coders is progressively improving.
Allied Prep Technical Institute is a leading medical coding and medical billing school based in Louisiana. We offer comprehensive certification programs to students via on-campus and online classes.
Email us at contact@alliedpreptech.com to find out more about the services we offer.