The Medical Billing Specialist works in health care centers like all other health care professionals, but the scope of work is related to generating bills for reimbursement in instances when patients have health insurance. Medical billing specialists settle the claims between medical institutions, insurance companies, and patients. To generate the bills they use the computer system where the codes corresponding to a patient’s procedures and diagnosis can be determined. For this task, medical billing specialists are better known as medical coders or medical billers. Education in the form of a certificate or degree is required for most medical billing jobs. Jump start your career by requesting free information today from the schools below:
Healthcare Coding by National American University
Diploma – Medical Insurance Billing and Coding by Brookline College
Associates – Advanced Medical Billing and Coding by Lincoln College Online
Education and Training Requirements
An individual must possess the required educational qualification to become a medical billing specialist. Degrees in medical billing and healthcare administration are highly imperative. You must complete a diploma in medical billing or undergo a medical billing training and certification program offered by a medical training institute.
Duties and Responsibilities
Since the medical billing specialist is responsible for collecting, posting, and managing account payments, he or she should be expected to prepare and submit claims to various insurance companies either electronically or by paper. He is also responsible for maintaining records of medical billing and claims, settlements, and medical insurance. Medical billers answers questions from patients, clerical staff, and insurance companies, as well as identify and resolve patient billing complaints. Medical billing specialists assign different corresponding codes to make sure that a medical facility is accurately billed whenever the physicians needs to make a diagnosis or perform a procedure, and also have to verify the diagnoses and the procedures with the physicians to avoid discrepancies in the future.
Medical billing specialists review accounts for possible assignments and prepares information for the collections agency. He has also to fill in the claim form accurately by contacting the patients, company, or the health institution, for a single mistake might delay the whole process. And in order to get the codes properly structured medical billing specialists uses different types of codes. These codes are ICD or International Classification of Disease and CPT or Current Procedural Terminology code. Medical billers report to billing supervisors and managers in matters of medical bills.
Qualifications, Skills, and Specifications
Medical billing specialists must have an excellent knowledge of medical billing, be responsible, highly organized, and have a good eye for details. Billers must have the ability to operate a computer and basic office equipment, the ability to read and understand oral and written instructions, and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationship with patients, employees, and the public, and of course they must also have a desire and dedication to work and have self-discipline.
Working Environment
Though most medical billing specialists work in the health center, some prefer to work at home because medical billing doesn’t have to be done in a hospital or doctor’s office. You can do billing from home, clinic, hospital or any office that has the necessary software that will help you with your job. Sometimes you have to do extra work depending on the urgency of work. You must have a computer system, medical billing software, and other equipment required to do the job irrespective of working from home or online. You must have a desire and dedication to work whether you are planning for medical billing from home jobs or online.
