Medical billing and insurance coding professionals offer support to physicians, clinics, hospitals, and patients in all their insurance and billing woes. And with the rapid emergence of HMOs, PPOs, insurance plans, Medicaid and Medicare, medical billing and insurance coding is high demand among the allied health occupations like never before.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics or the BLS said in a recent report that medical billing and insurance coding specialists, along with health information technicians, are one of the ten fastest growing allied health occupations in the United States. Experts in medical billing and insurance coding are certain to find work any place, any time, as long as they have their specialized training and skills and all the other necessary qualifications needed.
Medical billing and insurance coding specialists are compensated according to their level of training, experience, skills, and how effectively these skills are used. According to Salary.com, the average annual salary range for professionals who engage in this field is between $33,370 and $415,061.
Important Traits
Aside from the obvious skills you'll need to do good in this field of work, there are also some necessary traits which might come in handy during your day-to-day experience working as a medical billing and insurance coding specialist in a medical office. First is clerical skill. This is of course an obvious trait you must have since majority of your job as a medical billing and insurance coding specialist involves clerical work, including answering phone calls, setting up appointments, and providing patients with information about their billing and insurance, etc.
Another important trait is your organizational skills. You must have a good grasp of organization if you ever plan to achieve some measure of success in medical billing and insurance coding. Most of the time, you'll be dealing with files, electronic or otherwise, and to keep everything smooth and easily accessible, you need to streamline the office. That is where organization comes in.
People skills are equally important traits and one that doesn't really need mentioning but one that nevertheless needs to be emphasized. Being a medical billing and insurance coding professional doesn't just mean you'll be spending all your time at the office, staring at the computer screen. Chances are you'll find yourself having to speak with colleagues, doctors, patients, and insurance agents so your ability to connect with people is a skill you must learn to master.
Conscientiousness, a sense of responsibility, manual dexterity, and respect for the confidentiality of medical information are all important in this field.