How to Start a Career in Medical Billing and Coding

When I first got started in medical billing and coding I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. My father was a doctor who needed help with his billing and coding in his office. He had not hired the brightest bulbs in the box and so I was tasked with cleaning up mess after mess. I enjoyed medical billing and coding and after a while, I began to look into it as a career.

Medical billing and coding has to be one of the fastest-growing careers around. I teach medical billing and coding and our enrollment has grown by leaps and bounds. We have students who see the demand, have an interest in the medical field, and are ready to make that first move. There are those who want to start their own business and those who want to work from home. Whichever one they want, or if they want to pursue it along another path, the sky is the limit in this career.

Medical billing and coding is not data entry!!! I have students who talk about how hard it is and while it is not impossible, they are led to believe it is date entry. If it were that easy, there would be no education requirements! The biggest piece of advice I can tell you is to get ready for tons of medical terminology and understanding how that ties into the codes that are billed for the insurance companies to pay the claims. If you do not have any medical experience, that is fine, just get ready to burn the midnight oil to better understand the terms.

I have been asked the question of how you get started in medical billing and coding. I am here to give you a few tips that can guide you along the way!

1 – You need to have at least a high school education or GED.

2 – You will need to enroll in a diploma program, at least. There are some programs that have an Associates and some that have a Bachelor, but you at least need the diploma. Check this one out here.

3 -You need to get certified. There are two organizations that offer certification, AAPC, and AHIMA. They are both reputable programs.

4 – Try to get some medical office experience, even if it is just while going to school. This will help you to be marketable and most places, even the work from home, require a little bit of experience

Medical billing and coding is super hot right now and working from home in it is no exception. The above tips will help you to get started, but honestly, before pursuing this, do some research. Make sure you understand what you are getting into. You don’t want to get into the program and realize this is not what you thought. However, just because it gets tough, that does not mean that you need to get going!

With medical billing and coding, you can make good money and if you choose to open your own business, the sky is the limit!

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