Medical billers and coders have many opportunities to work in different environments in the healthcare industry. 

Medical billing and coding are a vital component of the healthcare system that shows consistent growth. Medical billers and coder's duties primarily pertain to reimbursing health providers for the work they do. Without medical billing and coding, physicians and care practitioners would not get paid for their services.

Medical billers and coders do not work directly with patients, but they often work with doctors and registered nurses to understand patient data. Medical billers and coders also interact with insurance companies, request and follow up on payments, and public agencies gather research data. Due to the scope of their work in the healthcare industry, medical billers and coders can be employed in various settings. 

What do Medical Billers and Coders do?

General duties for medical billers and coders include reviewing patient information, assigning appropriate diagnosis and procedure codes for patient care, statistical tracking, and billing purposes. 

Medical billing and coding involve identifying diagnoses, treatment, medical tests, and procedures found in clinical documentation and then transcribing patient data into standardized codes to bill government and insurance companies for physician reimbursement. 

How to Become a Medical Biller and Coder?

To become a medical biller and coder requires completing medical billing and coding programs [like UMA] and obtaining a certificate. Certificates can take as little as four months or fifteen months to get. The medical billing and coding program's length depends on the fields of speciality you wish to study, and the time you can dedicate to classes each week. 

Where do Medical Billers and Coders Work?

Medical coders and billers can be in various healthcare settings. Here are a few facilities that medical billers and coders can work in:

• Hospitals and Doctors Offices – the most popular facility medical billers and coders work in are hospitals and doctor's offices. These facilities need medical billers and coders to document and assign codes for each medical procedure a patient receives. Medical billers and coders research codes, interpret patient charts, and use specific medical coding software to assign proper codes. 

• Educational Institutions – Educational institutions need to experience medical billing and coders to train the next group of coding specialists. To work as a teacher in an educational institution, one must have a few years of on the job experience.

• Healthcare Consulting Services – Numerous companies act as consultants for hospitals, healthcare networks, and clinics. Healthcare consulting services hire various healthcare employees to help design, develop, and implement solutions for profitability and performance in hospitals, health systems, and physician practices. A medical biller and coder would spend their day viewing clinical documentation, and diagnostic results to obtain data and apply appropriate procedures for codes for billing, research, reporting, and regulatory compliance. Some healthcare services specialize in IT and medical billing, and coders play essential roles in conduction audits and reviews to ensure that coding is correct to prevent claims from being rejected due to errors for the streamlined medical coding and billing products. 

• Insurance Companies – medical billers and coders who work for insurance companies, review patients' claims from the other side. Medical billers and coders will verify incoming allegations' accuracy and note whether the information is missing or incorrect. They will also compare treatments a patient has received to the patient's insurance plan coverage and process payments. Medical billers and coders working in the insurance industry need to understand medical codes and research. 

• Government Agencies – federal and state government agencies, such as the National Center for Health Statistics or state Medicaid departments, are another facility for medical billers or coders. Daily duties for medical billers or coders in government agencies are familiar to those in other industries. They will oversee assigning codes, reviewing and auditing incoming claims codes, and abstracting information. Most of the roles for medical billing and coding focus on healthcare's financial side, but those working for government agencies help the government with valuable data for population health studies. 

• Law Firms – a large problem for healthcare providers is billing fraud. Providers need to prove that billing or coding errors were a mistake or face criminal charges. Law firms hire health professionals with medical billing or coding expertise to help with investigating fraud claims. In this position, medical coders examine records to determine whether coding or billing discrepancies are intentional or result from billing fraud. 

• Work-from-Home – as long as there is reliable internet access, there is the option to work-from-home as a medical coder. Working-from-home in medical billing and coding might not be an option with every employer and is generally offered to professionals with significant experience. 

Final Thoughts

If considering a career in the healthcare field, with lots of opportunities for different work facilities, medical billing and coding are admirable. There are many areas to gain on the job work experience and further hone your skills and knowledge.