Anyone Here In the Field of Medical Billing & Coding?

[diznee25]

If you are in the medical field doing insurance billing and coding, can you please tell me a little bit about your job? (Including daily duties, likes and dislikes, what is the pay like, etc.)

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[snarfer1]

I started a Medical Billing Company in 1998, from scratch! Self-taught, so busy no time for certification courses yet. I bill for three practices, and have 5 full-time and 1 pt. employee. As the boss the hours are great, and I'm reducing my time as I train and promote my employees. Now I gonna focus on expanding.

My manager gets $18.00 per hour, plus a DVC stay this year. Newbies with no experience $9.00/hr, Senior Biller gets $12.50/hr. We charge 9-13% based on level of service provided.

Any other billers out there?

 

[Pig Pen]

My DD is a coder/biller for a oral and facial surgery practice. She is 24 yo and makes about $35,000. She has about 30 college credits and took a couple special billing/coding courses while at a previous job.

Her only complaints are boredom and there is no room for advancement until she finishes college - which she is doing online thru the University of Phoenix. She is planning on going into accounting and management.

 

[jan/cape]

Diznee25, Thanks for asking this. I've been wondering the same thing for a while. Snarfer1 and Pig Pen thanks for the info.

I am a sped asst. in an elementary school. Though I like my job and the hours are perfect (I have a daughter in the jr high) and I get 15 sick days per year that can be rolled over. I have a lot accumulated the pay isn't so great. So ...Eventually I need to get a job with a Big Girl pay check.

 

[matjef9091]

coder/biller for the federal government. I am civil service so I am not sure that I can help. The job is not "thrilling" but it keeps the money rolling in and I have job security as long as the navy hospitals remain open to the retirees...

 

[mrsgus06]

I was a biller for 15 years at a local hospital until 2001. I worked for an internal medical practice. The downside is it can get a little boring, but you have to find things that are challenging such as old claims needing to be paid. The upside is, if you work in the office, is an extended family in the coworkers. I absolutely loved the three doctors I worked for. I swear the show Becker was made after one of them! They helped me through a rough divorce and celebrated with me 18 months later when I remarried. You get to know the patients on a personal level and will learn who you care for and who you don't. I lived on an island near Charleston where the office was so a trip to Walmart would bring on a conversation with 2 or 3 patients. I had to quit in 2001 when I inherited 3 little girls after their mothers death so I had 4 girls ages 6 and under and daycare was too expensive to keep working. I loved my job and would like to open a home based billing company, but not really sure how to go about it. Three out of the four are in school all day now and I have the almost 3 year old at home with me. Almost 3 years later, I still get stopped by the patient's wanting to know where I went ("You disappeared over night!") and I still stop by to say hi to my docs. Some days I really miss that job! I was making $13.50 an hour when I left.

 

[diznee25]

Thanks for the responses everyone! Forgot to ask what type of schooling, if any, you took in order to qualify for this line of work.

There's an Intellitec Medical school in my town that offers associate degrees in Medical Admin, which includes medical billing and coding. I'll be talking with a representative this Friday about the degree and hopefully I'll be doing medical insurance billing and coding soon!

Keep the posts coming!
Diznee25