Speaker 1: Making the right career choice is extremely important. In this video, I'm going to be discussing the pros and cons of medical billing and medical coding so that you can make the right decision for your future. Hey there, I'm Victoria. If you're anything like me, you are very big on improving yourself, and that's why I am here to help you make the right decision on medical billing and coding, and if this is the right career choice for you. We're going to discuss the difference between billing versus coding and some of the pros and cons of each that you might want to think about when you're getting started in this career or you're deciding if you want to get into billing specifically or coding specifically. Whether you have no healthcare experience or some healthcare experience, this video is going to help you make a better informed decision. Both medical billing and medical coding are in high demand in healthcare, but they do require some different skill sets. Medical billing involves following up on patient's insurance claims, so making sure that those claims are paid and reimbursed in a timely fashion to the provider or their healthcare organization. On the other hand, medical coding involves reading medical charts, abstracting all the diagnoses, procedures, drugs, services, translating them into codes, which are then used on the bills, but they're also used for a lot of data and statistical purposes. The decision to get into billing or to get into coding really depends on your personal interests, your skill set, and your career goals. Most medical billers actually don't deal with patients. Usually there is a customer service team that is actually receiving the patient calls about their bills. Medical billers are more so dealing with the insurance companies, sometimes over the phone. A lot of it now though is done through insurance portals. You do still need to have some strong communication skills, some basic customer service skills for when you are dealing with insurance representatives, and you have to have a very deep understanding of billing regulations. Things like how long after a service has been rendered, do you have to submit the bill, and then if you get a denial from insurance, how long do you have to appeal that denial and how does that appeal process work? Becoming a medical biller could be your way of helping out patients because then you can work with those insurance companies to make sure that they are paying those bills and they're not stressing out the patients with them. Medical coders, however, need very strong analytical and technical skills, a strong understanding of things like the different code sets, ICD-10, CPT, HCPCS, medical terminology, disease process, anatomy, and you can train for a career in billing and coding with Preppy, and you can find out more about them by signing up for my free career masterclass at medicalcodingmasterclass.com. The masterclass will give you that full roadmap of how you can go from someone who is not working in medical billing and coding to how you can be job ready in as little as six months without going into student loan debt. Highly, highly recommend it. You definitely want to go and check it out, medicalcodingmasterclass.com. I will also include a link in the video description below. Now let's go into the pros and cons of each. Now, a lot of programs will be a billing and coding program, so they train you for both because they are kind of almost like two sides to the same coin. And there are positions, particularly in maybe smaller doctor's offices where you will do both, but most people either specialize in billing or coding. Let's start with medical coding. Medical coding is very highly in demand. There is a lot of complexity and a lot of usage of healthcare and a lot of different regulations, which is making this position much more critical. The need for skilled medical coders is continuing to rise because of all of the complexity and the different regulations that are going into healthcare. There is an obscene amount of growth in medical coding as you gain experience and as you gain certifications. If you progress, for example, into a medical auditing position, those are usually more in the 70,000 range. Now it takes usually a couple of years to build up to that, but if you're someone who's very dedicated and very motivated, that is something that's very achievable if you stay on it, if you get additional credentials within a few years. And the third pro is there is a ton of work from home opportunity. The majority of medical coders work from home. There are some that work hybrid, that maybe they work partially from home, partially in the office, but there aren't a ton of coders anymore that work exclusively in an office. You might see that more though in like the provider education or medical auditing type of roles where they want you to work kind of hand in hand with providers. And those are usually the positions that pay more because you have to be there in person. But even so, ever since the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in remote positions in medical coding. We've always had them, but there's a much higher percentage now. Now there are accuracy and productivity standards. So work from home doesn't mean you can also have your kids running around. This is an hourly position with certain thresholds that need to be met, not saying it's not flexible. There is certainly a lot of flexibility in work-life balance. It's not something where you can work for 20 minutes and then go for a break and then work for two hours and then take a half hour break. You are going to have more of a set schedule and they will be expecting you to kind of be dedicated to coding during that time, not running back and forth and taking care of young children. So some of the cons of getting into medical coding is that most of the positions do require a certification. The two biggest bodies are APC and AHIMA or AHIMA. So because of that, you're going to have yearly membership dues and you're going to have to possibly pay for specific reviews or training for that credential. And you're going to have to pay for the exam fees pertaining to that credential. So that may involve some additional time and some additional cost for that education. And second is there's constant changes in the codes, hundreds of them every year. So on January 1, we change our CPT codes and on October 1, we change our ICD-10 codes. Medical coders need to stay up to date on all the code changes and we also need to receive continuing education units for the credentials that we receive. Part of that is staying up to date with all of the code changes. And the third con is there is a very high attention to detail needed. Just like I'm going to need you to pay attention to the detail of hitting that subscribe button and that notification bell so that you can get alerts when I post new episodes. But yeah, medical coding requires a high level of accuracy because some of these procedures, I'm sure you can imagine, are extraordinarily expensive. So if they're not coded accurately, it could be a huge financial loss or they might be scrutinized later by an external auditor, which could result in not only losses, but penalties for billing them incorrectly in the first place. So that need for accuracy and productivity can be stressful to some people. Now, moving on to medical billing, here are some of the pros. It's in high demand, just like medical coding. These complexity, all these different things that these insurance companies are imagining of different ways to creatively manage their finances definitely keeps medical billers on their toes. So there's a lot of demand for medical billers that are skilled that know all of the ins and outs of these insurance regulations and information about the different health insurances and the different health policies that they have. But one of the bigger pros for medical billing is there's a lot more entry-level positions because they do not require certification. There are certifications specific to medical billing, but most employers don't require them as part of the job in the way that they do for medical coding. It certainly demonstrates your proficiency when you have those credentials, but it's not always a hard and fast requirement. So oftentimes people who even aspire to get into medical coding will start out in medical billing because it's easier to obtain those positions. Third pro is you get to do a lot of problem solving. Medical billers oftentimes deal with these unique situations or very high dollar situations, and it can be very rewarding to work your way through those. So there's lots of opportunities there to develop problem-solving skills. Now, some of the cons, however, is that can be stressful, managing those claims, following up on them. There's a lot of moving parts, making sure that you don't miss anything, trying to figure out what's a higher priority. Is it going to be the claim that's $20,000 or is it gonna be the one that's going to be denied by insurance if we don't get it out the door in the next two days? And when you have a claim where it's something where it's like this patient clearly needed this procedure and the insurance is saying, oh, this wasn't medically necessary and they're denying it, that can be very stressful. Second is you might be dealing with stressful communications with patients or providers. Now, again, not all medical billers work with answering patient phone calls, but they may have to troubleshoot some of those situations that come through customer service. And that may be different, again, in those situations where you're working for a small practice and there might be someone who is the combined customer service billing and coding team. And as far as the provider communication, medical billers do sometimes need to work with physicians to have them do things like write letters of appeal or letters of medical necessity to the insurance companies. So some of that communication can be challenging. And medical billers may be a little bit more limited than medical coders in their work from home opportunities. Oftentimes there is this revenue cycle building or a billing office or a health insurance office where they are working and they're kind of in that almost call center-ish type of situation. So those are a little bit more often on site versus the medical coding. So both medical billing and medical coding have very rewarding career paths, but they have their own unique skillsets. So you have to kind of figure out what might be best suited for you. They each have their own unique challenges and benefits. So really think about what is your skillset? What is your interest? What are your career goals? And if you want to learn more about how to get started in this career, again, medicalcodingmasterclass.com. Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. I will see you guys in the next video. And until then, just keep on coding on.