This article is about a potential employer’s view on medical billing schools. My experience has been that they simply are not worth the time and money for the students. I have interviewed many medical billing candidates from many medical billing schools and I do not find that the education makes the individual a more attractive candidate than other inexperienced candidates.
In fact, when I do hire a medical billing school graduate they typically are started along side inexperienced new hires in our apprenticeship program. They start at the same pay and in need of almost the same training as individuals that have not spent the money or time on medical billing school. I would say at best, they start 3 months further up the learning curve than a completely inexperienced hire. This translates to about $0.50 per hour difference for 3 months (at best).
Although medical billing schools teach some terminology and medical billing concepts, they do not provide any of the experience necessary for an individual to start as a medical biller. In fact, more often than not we find that they have taught incorrect concepts and the “eduction” has to be unlearned before the individual can actually move on from being an apprentice. Many times the medical billing school graduates also have an inflated sense of confidence because of their training and are harder to teach and mentor in terms of proper medical billing because they are under the impression that they have already learned all they need to know.
A better path into medical billing is to avoid spending money on a medical billing school and instead spend time finding a medical billing company or doctor’s practice that will let you start your medical billing career by calling on medical claims or verifying patient insurance information prior to the patient’s appointment.
Both of these activities give individuals a solid base for launching a medical billing career. They provide the individual with both a grounds up understanding of the building blocks of medical billing and a real medical billing job on their resume.
If you approach organizations with this plan in mind it is quite likely that you can find an entry level opportunity. Such an opportunity will allow you to earn an income while learning medical billing and will look much better on your resume than medical billing school.
The certified coder that does not already have medical billing experience is typically hard pressed to find a coding position. Once, however, your have medical billing experience you can get real value from a certified coder certificate.
If you have your heart set on becoming a medical biller then please do not start with medical billing school. You will serve both yourself and your future medical billing departments better following the path outlined above.
Copyright 2008 by Carl Mays II
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