Is New York State a good place to build a career as a medical biller and coder?

If you have been following the news from New York, things do not look too rosy at first glance. On January 19, New York Governor David Paterson released his proposal for a budget that will attempt to close a projected $7.4 billion deficit for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

According to the Greater New York Hospital Association, that budget “contains major cuts and taxes for health care providers” that will put construction of new hospitals on hold. But the issue is more complex than that, for several reasons:

-     First, Governor Paterson is also trying to pass a new bill that will raise $650 million through new taxes on the sale of cigarettes and sugared beverages. If that bill passes, those funds will be earmarked for improving public health – and that spending could spur job growth for medical information processors.

-     Second, Governor Paterson recently announced that he will not seek re-election. That might not impact the passage of the new bill mentioned just above, but it does throw the long-term prospects for healthcare funding into uncertainty.

A Little Perspective

The 2009 Federal Issues Book: New York Hospital and Health System Priorities, a downloadable report from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), helps put these recent events in context. According to HANYS, New York State’s 300+ hospitals have continued to offer many opportunities for healthcare professionals.

-     New York hospitals employed 357,780 full-time workers in 2009.

-     New York hospitals also created an additional 671,730 support jobs throughout the state in 2009.

-     New York hospitals paid $26.8 billion in direct wages and fringe benefits to employees in 2009.

-     Every year, New York hospitals provide 2.6 million inpatient hospital stays, 44 million outpatient visits (including 7.9 million emergency room visits), and deliver more than 250,000 babies. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are thinking about taking a course in Medical Billing and Coding or are already in a course or working in the field, then you should be thinking about becoming a Certified Professional Coder with the American Academy of Professional Coders.

Certifications allow medical billers and coders to validate their knowledge and expertise in various medical environments. It will also help you earn approximately 20% more than non-credentialed coders, according to the American Academy of Professional Coders.

These credentials are nationally recognized by employers, physician societies and government organizations.

Being credentialed may also give you and your employer more confidence in your ability to capture lost revenue for the payment risk and protect their practice from unfavorable audits.

As a credentialed billing and coder, doors may open up for you faster in:

•  Physician offices or groups

•  Hospital-associated physician offices or groups

•  Health system-associated physician offices or groups

•  Home health agencies

• Physician groups at a university and or in a teaching setting

•  Compliance auditors or forensic auditors of physician claims

•  Physician billing services

•  Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC)

•  Outpatient hospital services not reimbursed by Ambulatory Patient Category (APCs) groups

•  If you are a consultant, educator, legal counsel, physician or other care-giver seeking a credential to demonstrate your command of outpatient medical billing and coding for physician services.

So get certified today if you are working in the field. If you are taking a course, be sure to take the certification exam shortly after your course is complete. There are also preparatory classes offered to help you prepare for the certification examination. Do it for yourself. This is a great accomplishment and will bring much more value to your degree.

“Hot Jobs: Medical Coders Are in Great Demand,” an article by Scott Andron in The Miami Herald, reports encouraging news about the growing need for medical billers and coders in Florida.  “Health information management might be for you, and a job as a medical coder might be the place to start,” Andron writes.

The Miami Herald is not the only publication that is optimistic about opportunities for medical billers and coders in Florida. According to Orlandojobs.com’s Employment Outlook for Central Florida report, healthcare jobs are among the fastest growing employment opportunities in Florida. The report points to fast-growing opportunities for physical therapists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, medical coders and medical billers.

What’s driving this growth? One significant force is the construction of new medical facilities in the state. One of the more promising could be the planned “medical city” in Orlando’s Lake Nona area. According to a recent article in The Orlando Business Journal, the development of this medical and research park has the potential to create 30,000 high-paying jobs in just a decade.

So, is Florida a good place to start and grow your career as a medical biller and coder? It certainly seems to be. We’ll be watching the trends in Florida and other states in the coming months and reporting on them here.

Did the word “deduction!” jump into your mind the minute you thought about opening a home office? If so, you are thinking wisely, because a home office provides many great opportunities to deduct business expenses from your taxes.

But be careful. The IRS has some requirements – and traps – waiting for people who break the rules about what can be deducted.  So be sure to follow these steps to avoid trouble.

Read what the IRS has to say. Download Business Use of Your Home, a guide that is published by the Internal Revenue Service. It spells out which expenses are deductible, how much of your home you can deduct as a home office, and more. You’ll also find some unpleasant surprises. Example: If you sell your home for a profit after you’ve taking deductions for a home office in it, you could end up paying capital gains tax on your business. (See page 14 of Business Use of Your Home.)

Talk over your plans with your accountant or tax preparer. Your strategy for taking home-office deductions will vary according to whether you own your home or rent, the physical layout of your home, the amount of time you intend to stay in your current residence, and other factors.

Keep complete records of all deductible expenses. A file cabinet is your best friend in this area. Set up files for office expenses, travel expenses, and all other categories. Also: Print out and file records of Internet purchases, invoices and other electronic documents that you will need to complete your taxes. Preparing your taxes will be much easier if you have all your records in one place.

If you have multiple clients, keep careful records for each of them. You will need to track the income for each of them – as well as expenses that apply uniquely to them – separately. Your accountant or tax preparer can help you set up filing categories to keep everything straight. Read the rest of this entry »

As a Biller and Coder, you may think that the only opportunity you may have is to sit at a desk from 9-5, Monday through Friday, doing the same thing day in and day out. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong!

There are many career opportunities out there for certified Medical Billers and Coders that are often overlooked. Here are some of those opportunities:

Being an Instructor—Specialty specific schools are always looking for certified Coders to teach Medical Billing and Coding; this can be a very rewarding career for a biller and coder.

Attorneys—Many Medical Attorneys are looking for qualified Coders for positions such as collections and recuperating “lost” or “unpaid” monies.

Forensics—Love the show?  Well, now, as a certified Biller and Coder, you can join their team, tracking reimbursement for various medical services.

Auditing—These positions are needed in hospitals and outpatient settings, and if you are lucky, many auditing companies send certified Billers and Coders all over the U.S. to audit medical records; this ensures that physicians are coding to the highest level and obtaining correct reimbursements.

Home Business—After “paying your dues,” you, as a certified Biller and Coder, could open your own home business, submitting claims and posting reimbursements from the insurance carriers.

As a certified Biller and Coder, you have many opportunities out there that are just waiting for the right person.  Could that person be you?

Are You Ready to Advance Your Career? is a fun, informative self-test that’s available free online at Queendom.com. If you take it, you’ll find that it delivers some useful perspective on where your abilities could take you in professional life.

We took the test and liked it. It got us thinking. So we asked 10 medical biller and coders to name the traits that have helped them achieve success in their careers. Here are the five qualities they named most often. If you possess them, a career in medical billing and coding could be a good choice for you.

Trait #1: The ability to work on your own, without close supervision. This trait was named by every medical biller and coder we polled.

Trait #2: The ability to focus, finish up and follow through on assignments.

Trait #3: Good organizational skills and the ability to calmly handle a backlog of work.

Trait #4: A willingness to work flexible hours.

Trait #5: Interest in working at home, or in starting a company. (Six of the people we polled are thinking about starting their own home-based businesses to process medical claims.)

Interesting: Only four of the 10 people we polled cited computer skills as being critical to success, and only three people cited medical knowledge. “Those are skills you learn in school,” one person told us, “you don’t need them before you decide to train for the profession.”

We’d like to hear from you about this topic. If you’re a professional medical biller and coder, what skills and qualities have helped you succeed?

Doctors and nurses are at the forefront of patient care, and receive most of the attention associated with running a medical office. Behind the scenes, however, medical and billing and coding specialists serve vital roles in maintaining a successful healthcare facility.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the responsibilities of medical billers and coders:

• Run the software and systems that help keep our healthcare network going
• Process critical claims and medical records
• Code medical and surgical procedures using proper terminology
• Collect payment from patients and insurance companies
• Validate patient insurance information