COURSES > medical billing and coding specialist

Medical Billing and Coding Specialist

Medical billing and coding professionals keep records, calculate patient charges and review files. Duties include: reviewing records, calculating charges for a patient’s procedure and service and preparing itemized statements and submitting claims to third party payers. Medical coders are responsible for the collection of physician chargers and patient data to ensure that claims are submitted to insurance carriers accurately and in the most efficient and expeditious manner.

Additionally, Medical Coders/Billers determine codes for physician procedures and diagnosis sing ICD-9 and CPT-4 coding protocols for third party billing purposes.

This combined billing and coding course offers the skills needed to solve insurance billing problems, how to manually film claims (using the CPT and ICD-9 manually), complete common insurance forms, trace delinquent claims, appeal denied claims and use generic forms to streamline billing procedures. The course covers the following areas: CPT (introduction, guidelines, evaluation and management), specialty fields (such as surgery, radiology, and laboratory), ICD-9 (introduction and guidelines) and basic claims processes for medical insurance and third party reimbursements. Students will learn how to find the service and codes using manuals, (CPT, ICD-9 and HCPCS). After obtaining the suggested practical work experience students who complete this course could be qualified to sit for the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC)- Certified Professional Coder Exam (CPC or CPC-H Apprentice); the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Certified Coding Associate (CCA) exam; and/or other national certification exams.

Student Externships are typically completed at Doctor’s offices, Clinics, Hospitals, Laboratories, Physical Therapy Sites, Pharmacies, Optometry facilities, Dialysis Centers, etc. The externship provides the student with real world experience applying the skills learned at Dorson Vocational Training Institute.

Students interested in these fields should possess a high school diploma or GED equivalent.