Training For Medical Billing

Frequently Asked Questions

Here’s our most frequently asked questions on training for Medical Billing. Everything from online medical billing degree to free medical billing training. This is a living list we’re adding to all the time. One of the biggest concerns for those entering the medical billing and coding profession is what medical billing coding training is required.

What are the best medical billing courses online
When considering training for medical billing, one of the biggest questions is where to start. A good billing coding medical online training course is a great start for medical billing careers. The beauty of taking an online medical billing course is being able to work at your own pace. The cost of a good medical billing training course ranges anywhere from $500 and up.

Here’s more discussion on online training related to medical billing careers and a link good reputable online medical billing course I’ve found.

Is medical billing certification necessary to get a job?
No its not necessary. The benefits of certification in medical billing careers is it distinguishes you from others in the field and gives you an advantage when being considered for a job. It also shows your commitment to the profession.

The American Medical Billing Association (AMBA) offers the Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist certification through examination and education.

The Healthcare Billing and Management Association offers the Certified Healthcare Billing & Management Executive (CHBME) and Certified Medical Billing Associate (CMBA).

Certification is probably more common in medical coding than it is in medical billing.

Do Medical Billing Specialists have to be licensed?
No – licensing for medical billing careers is not necessary. I’m not aware of any state or local entity that tries to license medical billing.

Licensing is different than certification. Licensing is typically required by state government agencies to demonstrate a minimum level of knowledge or ability as required by law.

The only time a license would be required is for a medical billing service business which typically require a business license issued by the local city or municipality.

Can you get an online medical billing degree?
Yes there are several reputable online schools that offer online medical billing programs. I don’t know that most offer an accredited degree program strictly for billing. Medical billing career are considered by many to be and administrative type job which doesn’t require an extensive degree program unless you want to get more into healthcare management.

Do you need to know medical coding to be a medical billing specialist?
You don’t have to be an expert in coding to be a billing specialist. It does help to have a general knowledge of codes to recognize diagnosis and treatment codes and recognize when there are errors. After you’ve been billing a while a lot of this comes naturally.

Whats the quickest way to get training for medical billing?

Probably online or at a local community or vocational school. If you really work on it you can usually complete a good online course within three months.

Here’s more detailed training info.

Whats necessary to become a certified medical billing specialist?
It depends on which certification you want. There are two organizations that offer medical billing certification; The American Medical Billing Association (AMBA) offers the Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist. The Healthcare Billing and Management Association offers the Certified Healthcare Billing & Management Executive (CHBME) and Certified Medical Billing Associate (CMBA). They typically require certain minimum education standards be met along with successfully passing an exam.

Is there a way to get free medical billing training that’s worthwhile?
There is a lot of very useful information on medical billing topic available on the web for free. But I wouldn’t consider that a substitute for formal training for medical billing. I’ve fallen for the free medical billing training training courses online – but its usually just general “teaser” info hopping to get you interested enough to commit to the paid program.

Here’s a page I created to discuss my experiences with free training for medical billing.

The Frequently Asked Questions for other categories are on the individual pages as follows – just click on the link to go to the section.:

If you have a question about medical billing careers that’s not answered here, feel free to ask here.

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