what is the best program to train to become a medical biller and coder?

Question

Training for medical billing and coding/

Answer 1

I attend South College in TN. The program here is Medical Coding Specialist.( 6 months to 1 year program).

Answer 2

Hello Vrjb57,

The answer to this question really depends on two things:

1) Do you have any prior experience in the healthcare/medical field?

2) Do you have the time, money and a real desire to take college, vocational or trade school courses in your local area?

3) Once you finish you education are you going to be looking for employment in a hospital, clinic, lab, solo/group practice or will you be starting your own home based medical billing business?

If you don’t have any prior experience in the industry then I would say if you have the time then attend a local college, vocational or trade school because you will benefit directly from the face-to-face interaction you will receive when you have questions, problems or concerns.

If you have some type of experience in the industry or if you don’t have the time or money to invest in traditional learning institutions that you look for a really good online course. There is a lot to consider though because everyone on the net is saying how great they are but when you dig deeper you find that there are a lot of smoke and mirrors that are used just to get you to sign up. Make sure that you read the following website so you can get an idea of what you should be looking for in a good online course:

http://medicalbillingbook.tripod.com/medical_billing_courses/

If you are going to start your own home based medical billing business then a good online medical billing course will be enough to get you started but remember that the course should also cover all the aspects of running the business. If it doesn’t then you know you’ll have to spend more money just to acquire those skills.

If you want to work in a hospital, clinic, lab, solo/group practice as a medical biller then you can also take an online course and that should suffice for most people since the job is usually more information input and follow up than anything else.

If you want to work in a hospital, clinic, lab, solo/group practice as a medical coder you can either take a good online course or go to a traditional learning institution but I have to say that most employers will be looking for the latter of the two options (on top of that they would rather you also have at least 1 ½ years of practical experience in coding and that you be nationally certified by either AHIMA or the AAPC.).

The website that I mentioned earlier is mostly for those thinking about medical billing as a career path but for those that want to do medical coding then the following is the online school that I refer all of my medical billing students to when they want to take the next logical step in their career (Once on the website look to the left under the “Health Sciences” section and click on the link to medical coding):

http://tinyurl.com/2347z

This is a really big topic that I can speak about for hours but hopefully you’ll benefit from the recourses that I have mentioned.

Good luck to you in your endeavors.

Lori
http://medicalbillingbooks.tripod.com/

Answer 3

I would tell it if i would know which state u like to study