What Medical Billers Do?

Recently, there's been an increase in the number of students taking up allied health care service courses. From medical transcription, medical billing, x-ray technicians, care-givers, etc.

The reason for this is because it's common knowledge these days that there's an on-going increase in health care service demands, not just in the United States but globally. The world is aging. People all around the world is getting old and so there's an increase in demand for health care services which also pulls-up the demand for related services.

This is exciting news for people who are fulfilled not only by a rewarding career, but also by the thought that they will be able to participate in a process that helps patients extend, save their lives or make their lives better.

However, not all allied health care courses are easy to get into. Most of the medical courses requires years of study. The same is true with most of the allied health care services. However, there are certain courses that are not that long, and though a good grounding about the medical field is required, certification is not enforced.

One example is medical billing and coding. It's an allied health care service that is growing along with the demands for health care service. So, if you want to start a career in the medical industry, then this could be your starting point.

What Medical Coders and Billers Do?

If you are interested about becoming a medical biller but want to know first what they do, then here's a quick guide on the tasks performed by medical billers.


1. Medical Coders and Billers create a coded list of health services performed on insured patients. 



The professionals in-charge of filing claims from insurance companies in behalf of the Doctors who performed services to insured patients are the medical billers and coders. They will interact several times with the representatives of the insurance companies and their medical examiners. The point of interaction is to file a claim and get compensated (paid by the insurance companies).

So, the primary duty of medical billers and coders is to list all services performed by the Doctors to the patient, then code those services according to acceptable medical coding standards. Coding the services is important because a wrong code for certain service will mean claims rejection by the insurance company. In which case, a correction will have to be made and a claim re-submitted or in worse case scenarios, the physician will have to settle for something less.

2. Follow Up on Claims

The medical biller and coder will also be in-charge of following up the status of the claims. They will be responsible on the status of the claim until it is settled by the insurance company. This will involve several interaction with the representatives of the insurance company and in some cases will require re-submission of claims and additional attachments.

As written above, you can see that the specialized knowledge required from medical billers include knowledge and good grounding in the medical field. They will be mostly assigning codes on medical procedures, so a working knowledge of the terminologies and procedures is a must along with knowledge of the accept medical coding standards.

I hope this post gave you a good idea of what medical billers do. Thanks and Enjoy!