Medical Billing & Coding - How does one get started?

[972hernandez]

I'm interested in taking a class but not sure how to get started in order to take state exam?

Any advice for anyone who is already in this profession... gladly would appreciate any info available.:;-D:

[entpac]

Which state exam? My job is not as a practice biller / coder but as a P.A.. I am in a speciality practice and attended the Karen Zupko courses. The courses are fast paced and better serve those working in the surgical specialties who already have some knowledge of procedure and terminology. Although they are excellent courses, I don't know how you would fare if you wanted to take just the Zupko course and then take a state exam. I sincerely don't know if taking a Zupko course would qualify you to take a state exam for billing and coding. As a P.A., I take complete responsibility for coding my own charts. Our biller takes care of the administrative processing of the codes I provide. She never attempts to change ICD or CPT codes on her own. Hope this helps. You are registered as a Pre-PA. Are you thinking of becoming a P.A. or have you applied to a school yet?

[marabird]

Which state exam? My job is not as a practice biller / coder but as a P.A.. I am in a speciality practice and attended the Karen Zupko courses. The courses are fast paced and better serve those working in the surgical specialties who already have some knowledge of procedure and terminology. Although they are excellent courses, I don't know how you would fare if you wanted to take just the Zupko course and then take a state exam. I sincerely don't know if taking a Zupko course would qualify you to take a state exam for billing and coding. As a P.A., I take complete responsibility for coding my own charts. Our biller takes care of the administrative processing of the codes I provide. She never attempts to change ICD or CPT codes on her own. Hope this helps. You are registered as a Pre-PA. Are you thinking of becoming a P.A. or have you applied to a school yet?

 

just found the site with google does it give other alternatives to Zupko Coures? thanks.

[ronitb]

Might I add that there a very good medical billing and coding program at MTI College in Sacramento. My friend studies there. That program is definitely a good start toward billing and coding careers in the field.

[crank]

Hi Entpac,

Thanks for providing the great info. I'm planning to start my career as a medical coder. I will follow your guidance for taking courses. Keep updating more info.

[medwave]

We fell into it. Both of our co-founders studied something else at university. We ended up supporting a family member's physical therapy company and we delved into doing their medical billing, getting them paid through the multiple commercial insurances and medicaid / medicare. We'll never look back, as we've progressed into doing some fairly large specialized contracts which have been extremely lucrative and lengthy.

IOW, pure luck! 

Edited August 25, 2019 by rev ronin
Edited to remove self-promotion link

[st3ppingstoneinlife]

I'm commenting here because I would like some more information on this subject for my nephew. He is in Nevada and currently taking classes for medical billing and coding. One of the problems is I hear that the market is so saturated with people graduating the training courses that it's extremely hard to get a job in that field there. Does anyone else know if this is true and 1) are there other city/states that may be better for this field? 2) Would recommend quitting the field all together and starting fresh in another field (only issue here is the loss of time that was put in but would rather cut ties and start fresh on something new now that have him wait till he's invested another few years in the industry then finds out it's not for him)? 

 

Thanks for help with this! 

[rev ronin]

On 11/8/2021 at 12:59 PM, st3ppingstoneinlife said:

I'm commenting here because I would like some more information on this subject for my nephew. He is in Nevada and currently taking classes for medical billing and coding. One of the problems is I hear that the market is so saturated with people graduating the training courses that it's extremely hard to get a job in that field there. Does anyone else know if this is true and 1) are there other city/states that may be better for this field? 2) Would recommend quitting the field all together and starting fresh in another field (only issue here is the loss of time that was put in but would rather cut ties and start fresh on something new now that have him wait till he's invested another few years in the industry then finds out it's not for him)? 

 

Thanks for help with this! 

I don't know any of the regular members here will be able to give you enough insight on this. When we tackle billing and coding, it's generally as providers, not as certified biller/coders.