On February 16, 2006 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was finalized, and enacted. This law was designed to establish national standards for all health care transactions, and to ensure the security and privacy of all health related information. The motivation behind this law is to improve the performance, and efficiency of our health care system. This type of reform increased the need for qualified individuals to assure full compliance, as well as create maximum reimbursement for providers.
The proliferation of medical knowledge following World War II brought about an explosion of diagnostic, and treatment procedures. As a result, the need to organize and standardize all developing technologies.This is when the foundations of medical coding and billing were born. Medical coding met these challenges, and allowed for a more uniform way of communicating health information under a common language. Since improvements and refinements of medical procedures are constantly being developed, codes must be added and updated to reflect these changes. Today, the number of medical and surgical procedures have expanded remarkably and so have the codes to describe them. The most current version of the diagnostic codes, ICD10 are the newest version. The expertise required for a biller or coder has increased as well. The ability to do the work with the added complexities requires expanded training. med-certification.com provides that training.
Best Job Opportunities:
Medical Billing and related occupations continue to be the fastest growing opportunities in health care. Not only are jobs available in provider offices, but in insurance institutions and government agencies which are investing huge resources to control billing fraud, abuse, and establish some degree of reimbursement parity. As a result, more insurance companies, and health care facilities are looking to medical billing experts for help. These companies and practices are looking for experienced and educated individuals; the legal consequences of incorrect billing can be devastating. There is a movement in the industry to make medical billers responsible for inaccuracies, much they way accountants are for tax returns.
At present, there are no standards for educational requirements for medical billers and coders. However, more employers are looking for some formal training. The training whether online or at a brick and mortar school range in training time from nine months to two years though online training from www.med-certification.com takes less time.
Certification:
Requirements for certification have become much more common with several organizations sponsoring certification examinations in medical billing and coding. Today, evolutions in the health care industry are happening at a very high pace. It is only with the assistance of sophisticated computer programs, and standardized coding procedures that medical coders are now able to describe and characterize the tremendous number and various kinds of medical and surgical procedures. These realities coupled with government regulations, and health insurance guidelines have contributed to the strong demand for experienced medical coders and billers. To learn more, or to read up on training materials, visit med-certification.com or call 888-771-1902.