Out of all of the different agencies that hire medical billing and coding clerks, the health care industry is perhaps the biggest employer. Other places where coding clerks will work are at federal agencies, insurance companies and various international agencies such as the World Health organization (WHO). Roughly a third billing and coding clerks work from their own houses. This is because many hospitals would rather outsource their work, rather than hire their own staff. Another name for medical billing professionals is Health Information Technicians or HIT's and this field is poised for big growth.
In order to become a medical billing clerk, the candidate will be required to have at least an associate's degree. However if the candidate is planning to advance to a management position, he or she will have to specialize their education and get the required qualification. There are many community colleges that offer courses in Medical billing and coding diplomas. Once a person becomes a registered Health Information Technician, salaries can be as high as 60,000 dollars per year. Most of these jobs are located in hospitals. The rest will be in nursing care facilities, outpatient clinics and home health care institutions.
The biggest change to the coding system is going to be the revision of the coding system as we know it today. The current method has 17,000 codes which are based on the World Health Organizations system, started in the late 1970's. The new system will call for switching to digitalized billing and coding system, which is slated to come into effect by 2014. This new system will have early 150,000 codes. Needless to say this new system will be more comprehensive and accurate, compared to the old system. This new system is also called "ICD-10". What all this means for job seekers in the medical billing and coding field is that there will need to be more staff that is educated in this new system.
In fact demand is going to be so big that, the medical field will need to hire many people from outside, to help with the large task of converting medical billing from the old to the new era.
In order to become a medical billing clerk, the candidate will be required to have at least an associate's degree. However if the candidate is planning to advance to a management position, he or she will have to specialize their education and get the required qualification. There are many community colleges that offer courses in Medical billing and coding diplomas. Once a person becomes a registered Health Information Technician, salaries can be as high as 60,000 dollars per year. Most of these jobs are located in hospitals. The rest will be in nursing care facilities, outpatient clinics and home health care institutions.
The biggest change to the coding system is going to be the revision of the coding system as we know it today. The current method has 17,000 codes which are based on the World Health Organizations system, started in the late 1970's. The new system will call for switching to digitalized billing and coding system, which is slated to come into effect by 2014. This new system will have early 150,000 codes. Needless to say this new system will be more comprehensive and accurate, compared to the old system. This new system is also called "ICD-10". What all this means for job seekers in the medical billing and coding field is that there will need to be more staff that is educated in this new system.
In fact demand is going to be so big that, the medical field will need to hire many people from outside, to help with the large task of converting medical billing from the old to the new era.
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