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Medical Billing and Coding

Medical Billing and Coding Job Description
Medical Billing and Coding professionals translate medical procedures performed by physicians into a set of standard codes that facilitate the insurance claim and payment process. They perform an integral role in today's health care infrastructure. Medical practitioners, health insurance companies, and patients rely on medical billing and coding experts to connect the dots that will ensure a straight line of health information data communication among all parties.

It should be noted that Medical Billing professionals are not the same as Medical Coding professionals. Many medical coding professionals pursue medical billing training to expand their career opportunities. Medical billing professionals must have knowledge of coding to perform their jobs. However, they are not interchangeable professions. Each has a distinct responsiblity in the healthcare field.

Medical coding professionals ensure that the healthcare industry has accurate and timely medical data. Medical coders translate a health provider's descriptions of diseases, injuries, and procedures into numberic and alphanumeric code. The medical code is used for many reasons, such as mortality data, procedural data, access to medical records by diagnoses and procedures for use in clnical care, research, and education. Since the federal government's mandate to electronically mantain all patient health records, medical coders have enjoyed a surge in career opportunities.

Medical billers handle daily billing procedures for healthcare providers. Medical biliing tasks include processing, adjusting and resubmitting claims, while adhering to current healthcare regulations and complying with insurance procedures and allotted benefits coverage.

Career Opportunities Include:

• Medical Coder
• Insurance Claims Analyst
• Coding Specialist
• Abstractor
• Medical Office Assistant
• Coding Technician
• Medical Billing Specialist
• Medical Clerk
• Health Information Specialist

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Medical Biiling and Coding Salary
According to the AAPC's recent salary survey, noncertified coders earned on average $25K - $30K. Certified coders earned on average $30K - $35K. Specialty certified coders earned on average $35K -$40K. See the results at AAPC salary survey.

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Medical Billing and Coding Education
The goal of most medical coding candidates is to become a certified medical coder. A quality medical coding program is designed to prepare graduates to sit for the first certification exam. There are six certification exams one can take to become a certified coding professional—some exams require one year of hands-on experience before eligibility, and some are geared toward working in a specific environment (such as a physician’s office, insurance company or hospital).

Medical Billing and Coding Curriculum
Quality medical coding and medical billing programs will be extensive because they must help students become proficient in topics such as:

• Evaluation and management
• Anesthesia
• Surgical services
• Radiology
• Pathology
• Medicine
• Medical Terminology
• Anatomy and Physiology
• ICD-9-CM
• HCPCS
• Coding guidelines
• Practice management
• Medical reimbursement

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Professional Certification
Two organizations offer exams to earn coding certfications.

American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA):

• CCA Certified Coding Associate
• CCS Certified Coding Specialists
• CCS-P Certified Coding Professional (physician-based)

• CPC Certified Professional Coder
• CCPC-H Certified Professional Coder (hospital-based)
• CPC-P Certified Professional Coder (for insurance payers)

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Medical Coding Professional Organizations