MedicalBillingCoding

Why Learn Medical Billing and Coding?

The field of Medical Billing and Coding and Certified Medical Coding are two options.

The medical field is one that is always hiring. It's a great field that offers jobs with great responsibilities and feelings of helping others.

There are a few different ways to get into the medical field and medical billing and coding. One is to take the full medical billing and coding vocational program at Community Business College.

But what if you're unsure that this is the right step for you. One way to try it out before getting fully committed is to try the "Explore A Career in Medical Billing and Coding" 6-week online course.

This course will help you take your first step toward a lucrative career as a medical coder! In this course, you'll learn how to use the CPT manual and the ICD-9-CM to find medical codes for any disease, condition, treatment, or surgical procedure. This knowledge will help prepare you to work almost anywhere in the medical field—doctors' offices, clinics, public health facilities, hospitals, labs, nursing homes, insurance agencies, or even the comfort of your own home.

We'll go through each of the main systems of the human body—integumentary (skin), musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and male and female genitourinary—outlining the medical terminology, conditions, diseases, injuries, treatments, and procedures you'll see most often in each of those systems.

Along the way, we'll go through lots of real-world examples and coding exercises to get you using your coding tools in conjunction with your analytical skills to come up with just the right codes to describe any medical situation. In the process, you'll get all the hands-on experience you'll need to code medical insurance claims with confidence. By the end of this course, you'll know how to find your way through both the CPT manual and the ICD-9-CM manual, and you'll be well on your way to a career as a medical coder!

Certified Medical Coding

Become a Certified AAPC Professional Medical Coder. The goal is to help students learn what they need to pass the medical coder exam. This training program is also available as an on-line course with proctored exams.

Due to additional pressures caused by new medical technology and public policies, wages for medical coders are expected to increase nationally, according to projections data from the Federal National Employment Matrix Job Outlook.

But coders must be certified in this competitive hiring environment. For students with no field experience, this certification can be accepted by employers in lieu of 1 year’s worth of experience.

Exam and 1 year membership in AAPC are included in the program.

Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 20 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations, through 2018.

Tuition can be funded by WIA and other scholarship programs for those who qualify. Candidates may be eligible for a California Training Benefits extension on Unemployment Insurance Benefits when they enroll.

For more information, see our website at Community Business College. Be sure to request the Certified Coders 2011 Annual Salary Report With Projections for 2012.

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) released the results of their annual study based on a national survey of certified medical coders, which provides statistics on salaries for certified medical coders for 2011 with projections for 2012.

While 2011 has been a solid year for the field, the outlook for 2012 is good. There is growing demand for certified codes despite a tough economic and health-reimbursement environment. This is a testament to the value these professional bring to employers.

Read more details in the Certified Coders 2011 Annual Salary Report With Projections for 2012.