What many do not realize is that a medical coder is in fact NOT a medical biller and vice-versa. Regardless of this fact, the two do work hand in hand. Medical coders and medical billers work revolve completely around the doctors, other healthcare providers, patients and of course money. The medical biller and coder have the same goals:
- Statements
- Payments
- Collections
- Creating invoices
Ensuring that the proper documentation is submitted to health insurance companies and various federal agencies so that the physician can be reimbursed for the care they provided. Aside from the goals listed above there are other duties that will be tackled throughout the day and they include:
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is one of the biggest duties that you will have throughout your day. You will rely on your education and expertise in order to come up with a working system for keeping the office running efficiently and organized. It will be you that people will go to for answers on where records should go so being able to give directions are a responsibility that you must be comfortable with.
Procedural Coding
You will be using the codes for the billing insurance companies and in addition to these codes you will be going through the patients’ record to view the checkup or other procedures that they received and the code used to describe these procedures will also be attached to the insurance company code. This is makes it so doctors and/or nurses who assist those patients are able to look at the codes on the patients chart to know what has already been done. Next to ensuring that people are paid for their services, procedural coding is just as important.
Insurance Coding
While you are working with insurance companies there are many lines of codes that you will have to remember that will allow payment and not allow payment. It will be your job to make sure that the information you are entering is correct and error free so your office is paid on time.
There are other duties and responsibilities that you will have to assume in the medical billing and coding position. However, the ones mentioned above are the most common duties that you will be performing. If the above roles sounds like something you would be able to complete then you may consider it worth your while to look into the medical billing and coding field.
What Makes A Good Medical Biller and Coder?
A qualified medical coder and biller are able to exude the following professional and personal traits:
- Accurate
- Detail oriented
- Knows the data that must be included in a claim
- Avoids error and rejections
- Able to stay on the ball and ensure that payment is received and questions are answered
- Organizational, people and clerical skills
- Sense of responsibilities
- Understanding and respect for keeping sensitive medical information confidential
Wow it seems like a lot of work, why do medical billers and coders choose this kind of career?
There are a variety of reason a medical biller and coder choose this career. The main reason of course is that they enjoy all aspects of the health care field BUT do not like to handle the clinical aspects of the job. The medical biller and coder have an in-depth understanding of finances, numbers, codes, the medical language data entry, office administration, performing research, answering complex questions and have a drive for becoming their own boss in the medical billing and coding business. Lastly, as stated above medical billers and coders that choose this career pay close attention to detail and are meticulous when it comes to the work they perform.