Medical Billing from Home

A number of jobs have been created in the health care industry due to medical billing. A medical billing professional is expected to submit claims to the insurance company for services provided to the patients by a certified health care provider. In the year 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by Congress. This required the US Department of Health and Human Services to establish national standards for electronic health care transactions, and make the health care system more efficient by encouraging the use of electronic data interchange (EDI). The process of medical billing and medical transcription was thus revolutionized. HIPAA forced health care providers to spend a lot of money on acquiring HIPAA compliant medical billing software, in order to facilitate the process of filing medical claims.

Prerequisites for Medical Billing

• A medical billing professional needs to understand medical jargon in order to transmit information to the insurance company about procedures, diagnoses, and other services provided by the health care provider .
• Since the information needs to be transmitted electronically, he needs to be conversant with computers.
• Most health care providers insist on employing certified medical billing professionals, hence getting certified is also a prerequisite.
• Having access to HIPAA compatible medical billing software is also a must.
• Finally, having a list of potential clients whose claim has to be filed is also indispensable.

Medical Billing from Home

Generally, a medical billing professional earns on an hourly basis. An experienced certified medical billing professional can earn as much as $14 an hour. The gap in salaries across genders is not much in the medical billing profession. In fact, it has been observed that women tend to earn more than men. This is one of the reasons why medical billing from home seems like a lucrative option for women who desire financial independence. Typically, an experienced medical billing professional will find it easier to work from home. This is because a novice does not know what to expect and has a greater chance of falling prey to scams. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged a number of promoters with misrepresenting the earning potential of a home based medical billing business. Many a times, fraudulent medical billing promoters charge an aspiring medical billing professional a huge amount of money, with the promise of providing him the required medical billing software. The software may be useless because it may not be up to date, or HIPAA compatible. They also provide a fraudulent list of clients to the unsuspecting professional. Hence, some amount of experience in medical billing can go a long way in helping a person distinguish between a genuine promoter and a fake one.

Difference between Medical Transcription and Medical Billing

Medical Transcription and Medical Billing require a person to be comfortable with medical jargon. A person also needs to be computer savvy. Moreover, both these professions offer home based employment opportunities. However, the nature of the job is different. While medical billing involves electronic transmission of insurance claims, medical transcription involves listening to a health care professional's dictation about a patient's medical condition,diagnoses and cure, and transcribing the same.

Most medical billing and medical transcription jobs are outsourced, due to the easy availability of educated people, who are willing to perform the task for a nominal amount. The justification behind outsourcing medical billing is that, nearly 30% of the claims are rejected, and tracking the errors and refiling the claims is tedious work. An agency dedicated to medical billing and coding can complete the entire work for a fraction of the amount, and save health care providers both money and time.