MEDICAL BILLING AND CODING FROM HOME - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
Rowan Adler
Loves Work at Home | Online Entrepreneur | Dad
I genuinely thought I was Bill Murray in Groundhog Day rocking up to the same office, the same cubicle, the same boss, with everything around me just… well… the same.
I knew that if I didn’t make a change, I would wake up old, in a matter of seconds, feeling depressed and wondering where all that precious time went.
So I made some changes. I educated myself (just as you are now), and I worked out how to find work life balance and work from home or remotely, but also when I choose.
The newfound freedom dramatically changed my life for the better, so I can only hope this blog helps you on your Love Work at Home journey.
By the end of this blog on medical billing and coding from home, you’ll have a much better understanding about:
- Job description
- Salary
- Training & Certification
- Companies that hire
So, let’s jump straight into it!
Medical Billing and Coding Job Description
Let’s give props to medical coders and put it straight – the healthcare industry spins around medical coders. There we go, I’ve said it!
They are skilful medical experts, in charge of submitting correct bills to insurance corporations, in order to obtain reimbursement for the hospital on the completion of services or treatment to the patient. They also ensure that the payments are successfully collected.
With the healthcare industry witnessing consistent growth, medical billers and coders are in demand. They play a crucial role in connecting the patients, healthcare providers and insurance companies.
According to Career Step,
“The whole industry, particularly medical coding and billing, might enjoy new job progression of 13% by the year 2026”.
This is a perfect job for individuals looking to work from home.
The job involves learning about the patient’s medical history, including the diagnosis and the treatment given to the patient to develop charts and plans. Further, in this role you would use pre-established medical codes based on these charts and transcribe the patient’s history into ‘shorthand’ for both insurance and healthcare provider’s use.
Medical Billing and Coding Salary
As I mentioned earlier, the demand for medical billers and coders is very strong these days and the likelihood of growth in such a career is super high.
Naturally when looking to make a career out of any job, you’ll want to know how much do medical coders make?
The job of medical billing and coding from home is as important as working in the hospital. The biller or coder needs to display high precision, numeric consistency, and understanding of numbers. So, even as a starter you can earn good money.
Glassdoor.com says that the average base salary of coders is North of $37,000 p.a. in the United States.
Salary.com shows that the average Medical Billing Clerk salary in the United States is a bit higher at over $38,000, with ranges from $34k-42k.
However, Medical Billing and Coding Online claims that those who have extensive experience, certifications and demonstrated success, can earn over $50,000 in a year! Although you should be wary of such claims coming from a business that has a vested interest in training Medical Billers and Coders.
To bring us back to Earth, Indeed.com notes that the average salary for a Medical Biller is $16.04 per hour in the United States based on 9,726 salaries submitted to their site.
So there you have it, some great information based on thousands of submitted salaries which all show that you can make a great living in this industry while enjoying the opportunity to work from home and cut the commute!
Medical Billing and Coding Training
There are many educational paths to walk down prior to entering the medical billing and coding industry.
In order to ensure you’re not under or over qualified we recommend checking what prospective employers require.
Further down we have a list of medical billing and coding companies with jobs catering to medical billing and coding from home. Beyond those options there are also jobs boards and search engines like indeed.com, flexjobs.com, linkedin.com and glassdoor.com where you can search for home based jobs that sound good to you. Then simply check the employers requirements, keeping tabs on your findings.
When you start to see a trend in the education and certification requirements for the jobs you’re interested in, this will be your best guide for the qualifications you should gain.
Online Certificate programs and Associate’s Degrees are offered by technical institutes, vocational schools and colleges throughout North America, giving prospective medical coders and billers the skills and confidence to find the best jobs and demand the best salaries.
Here are a collection of online sites that offer medical coding training courses:
1. The American Academy of Professional Coders
Completion Time Frame: 4-6 months
Tuition: $
Course Delivery Type: On Campus and Online
Certification Type Awarded: Certification or Prep for Certification Exam
Time Frame: 4 to 6 weeks
Tuition: $
Course Type: Online
Certification Type: Certificate
3. Career Step
Completion Time Frame: 4 months – with 12 months of access to the course
Tuition: $
Course Delivery Type: Online
Certification Type Awarded: Certificate
Completion Time Frame: 4 to 12 months
Tuition: $
Course Delivery Type: Online
Certification Type Awarded: Certificate
Photo Credit Ashworth College
5. Miller Motte
Completion Time Frame: 15 months
Tuition: $$
Course Delivery Type: On Campus, Online and Hybrid of both programs
Certification Type Awarded: Certificate
Completion Time Frame: 9 months
Tuition: $$
Course Delivery Type: On Campus and Online
Medical Coding Certification Cost
Details about the job description, check. Medical Billing and Coding salary, check. Medical billing and coding training, check.
Then what’s left?
Hold on! Did someone say certification? What’s the deal here?
While medical billers and coders aren’t required, at the time of writing this blog, to obtain certification or a license, most employers will want to see some type of formal training.
Also to increase your value as a medical biller or coder, increase your starting salary, reduce the likelihood of unemployment and to get ahead of the others who also love work at home, you’ll want to look into certification.
In comparison to the initial training certificate or degree, the Medical Coding certification examination cost is not a deal breaker.
Some options are the Certified Coding Associate exam through AHIMA (the American Health Information Management Association) or the Certified Professional Coder Certification Exam through AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders).
At the time of writing this article, both exams were around the $300 mark. Feel free to check if this has changed by following the links to these websites above.
Medical Billing Companies and Medical Coding Companies
One of the many perks in becoming a medical biller or coder is the ability to work from home. Be it a full time, part-time or contract based, medical coding and billing from home is a job full of benefits.
Take a look at the following 8 companies that regularly have jobs for medical billing and coding from home.
1. nThrive
nThrive health care subcontracting company recruits medical coders to work from home. The only requirement for Coders is a certification and at least two years of hands-on experience.
2. iMedX
This company hires home-based coders as permanent employees or freelancers who possess certification and have at least three years of relevant coding experience.
The Coding Network company offers at home coding jobs in several medical specialties. A minimum of three years’ experience is required to apply for a medical coder job.
4. Aviacode
Aviacode offers part-time and full-time medical billing and coding jobs from home.
5. Humana
The largest provider of health insurance offering many work-at-home positions for medical coding.
Photo Credit Humana.com
Change Healthcare offers remote medical coding positions across various medical specialties.
Himagine hires medical coders who live in different cities throughout the U.S. Himagine has made medical billing and coding from home super and convenient.
8. CPSI (Computer Programs & Systems, Inc. – Remote)
CPSI is a healthcare service company that hires freelance medical coders and billers who have a certificate in medical coding and can work in different disciplines across the wide-ranging medical field.
Conclusion
You’re now locked, stocked with 2 smoking barrels ready to take your best shot at medical billing and coding from home.
Now you know all about what medical billing and coding is, how much medical coders make, how to get medical coding training online, the ins and outs of certification, and companies that are going to help you work in medical billing and coding from home.
If any part of this blog helped you, we’d be endlessly thankful if you’d share it with someone you know who might also benefit from understanding more about the fruitful world of medical billing and coding from home.
Have a great day!
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