Medical care has become very expensive nowadays and all most all people have some sort of health insurance coverage to take care of their medical expenses. How do doctors get paid from the insurance companies for the service provided to the patient? It is by a process called insurance billing, which involves preparing paperwork and submitting the claim to the insurance companies. The person who does insurance billing is known as an insurance biller. Insurance billing is done via electronically or by paper. An efficient and error free insurance billing is essential to keep a regular cash flow in a health care facility. A financially stable health care provides the best possible medical care to its patients.
Insurance billing is very tedious process. Insurance biller is responsible for collecting, posting, managing account payments, submitting claims and following up the claims. Each time a patient visits the health care facility for medical assistance; insurance biller checks the validity of the insurance coverage. He/she confirms the coverage of the insurance for the intended service, so that patient is well aware of the health insurance coverage before receiving any treatment from the health care provider. Once the patient receives the treatment, insurance billers and coders assign codes to the particular diagnosis, treatment procedure and other medical services provided to the patient. Insurance biller fills the particular claim form, posts charges and payments and submits the claim to the insurance company to get the reimbursement.
Even though the main responsibility of a medical insurance biller is to collect receivables for service rendered by the hospitals, clinics and medical practices, sometimes insurance biller is also expected to do bookkeeping and talking to patients regarding their medical billing. Insurance billing also involves posting data and keeping records that are related to invoices and other supporting documents. Insurance biller does the negotiation and appealing with the insurance companies to resolve the discrepancies in the accounting.
In order to perform an accurate insurance billing, one should have a thorough knowledge of medical terminology, medical coding, pathology and pharmacology and computer science and computer applications. As insurance billing involves posting charges and payments, a biller should have basic mathematics skill. Apart from the above said skills, one should also have good hold on English language, good keyboarding skill and ability to operate billing machines. Medical insurance billers handle patient records that have confidential information. Hence, they should be very professional and discrete. Government has laid rules and guidelines on insurance billing and all billers should abide by the rules.
In order to understand the basic concept of billing, one should take up a course in medical insurance billing. Also, potential employers always prefer candidates with formal training to do their billing job as accurate insurance billing is very critical to run a successful health care business. Formal training covers all the basic subjects and skills required to perform insurance billing task. Insurance billing courses can be completed by attending regular school or by distant education. Online insurance billing courses are becoming more popular these days. Students get diploma certificate by completing 9 months course. Those who successfully complete 2 years course get an associate degree in insurance billing.
Insurance billing professionals work in a normal office environment away from patients. They usually work 40 hours a week. Sometimes insurance billers may have to work overtime as the business needs dictate. While most of them who work for hospital and other medical practices work during the day, insurance billers who work for billing companies may have to work on shifts. Insurance billing can be very challenging job at times, but it is very rewarding too. According to studies, an insurance biller’s salary ranges from $35,000 to $44,000 per year.
Insurance billing is vital to run a financially stable health care business and it is one of the growing careers in today’s world. Insurance billing is an ideal job for someone, who has organizational skills and has the ability to give attention to details.
Medical Billing & Coding Education