The healthcare industry is expanding in terms of occupations as technology use increases, requiring more workers with technical skills. This expansion does not just affect those who are providing medical care directly, but those in other areas as well, such as the administrative side. One such side is medical billing and coding. Medical billing and coding involves the submission and follow up of claims to health insurance companies. It is a most important sector in the healthcare industry as the revenues for the hospitals and medical care centers are generated by the medical billing and coding department working diligently. Those who work in this field also act as advocates for the patients, since they attend to careful and accurate billing, saving patients money in the long run.

As you look at the field of medical billing and coding, they are actually two jobs. Medical coding requires the user to classify thousands of various codes for medical procedures, products and services. The medical coder needs to know all about basic medical office administration and management, understand both medical and insurance terminology, use the protocol for standard coding, knowledge and application of data entry and the applicable software, and understand the management of health information. The medical coder must take the information of the patient after all medical procedures and services are performed and translate the information of the doctors into a code that insurance companies will understand.

Medical billing technicians use the information from the medical coders (sometimes this job is performed by the same person), and sends this on to the insurance companies for payments. They work to ensure that both the patients and the insurance companies receive proper billing and follow up on these billings to verify payment. Those individuals who specialize in this part of the process must be thorough in electronic data interchange and modifiers, health insurance management, claim forms management, medical documentation, healthcare law and the ethics of healthcare, ICD-9-CM coding, health insurance policies, and of course, billing management. Proper training will be needed whether one is going to be a medical biller, a medical coder or both. If you would like more information on entering into these fields, visit the website, medicalbillingandcodings.com.