Medical Billing and Coding…..Is it Billing? Is it Coding? How do I choose?

Almost everywhere you turn today you see the combination of Medical Billing and Coding or Medical Coding and Billing tied together in some way shape or form so many people, if they are not familiar with the medical profession may believe that they are one in the same process.  In reality, they are really quite different.  This is a good thing because there are often times that people come into this specialty thinking “I want to be a coder” until they start seeing what exactly the job entails and they quickly realize that this responsibility is not for them so they automatically begin to think “Great, I chose the wrong profession”.  That is not the case.  Not everyone is meant to be a coder and that is perfectly fine to discover.  It takes a special mind set to be able to wrap your brain around all of the concepts and processes that need to take placed to be an effective coder and not everyone fits that bill.

So, if not a coder, what then is there for me to do?  There is the billing aspect of this profession to consider.  Here the responsibilities are just as important as on the coding side of the process because it is the billers that ensure that the claims are properly filled out, correctly submitted to the insurance companies for processing, follow up on outstanding claims that have not been processed by the insurance company, The Medical Biller is responsible for knowing and understanding the parts of the different insurances  in their geographical area, may handle the accounts receivable in a working environment,  work on submission of secondary insurance claims, responsible for correcting and reprocessing rejected claims and the list goes on and on.

There is a whole other world that exists in the medical profession outside of being a coder and that is the Medical Biller.  Now often times, Billers and Coders work closely together to help ensure that claim information is correct to expedite the processing of the claim for proper reimbursement which is a great way for the system to work but to be honest, the system needs both of these parts for the whole process to work as one.  Without one side or the other, you will find that there will be delays, errors, hold ups, mistakes, and all around major problems.

So, have you wondered what Medical billing and coding really is?  Have you ever asked yourself if it was one or two positions?  As you can see from above, there are many more than just two positions that exist in this realm which is great because it provides many different pathways for those that are looking for something different.  If you do not want to be a coder, do not think that this will prevent you from working on this side of the administrative process of the medical profession.  There is more to this profession than just coding.  Research this
and see what the pathways may be.  Billing can provide many different veins for you to take advantage of and the choices are yours to make.

If you are considering a change in career, Billing and Coding may be a great pathway based on the opportunities outlined above.  Now all you have to do is decide where and how you are going to obtain that education you are going to need to move forward on this career decision.  Hopefully you will find that this will help with making your decision in moving forward. What do you have to lose? Not sure coding is for you? Then take that billing course first as it should introduce you to the use of the coding references used in the profession and once through your introduction of the coding material if you find you really liked the coding aspect then look to expand your education  pathway to pick up some coding classes after your billing course is completed. After all, some of the best coders today were billers before they became coders.  Feel free to leave your thought. May you have a Happy New Year and may you make this a New Year’s resolution that you follow through on.