What is Medical Coding & Billing?
Medical Coding & Billing - Curriculum Created by Industry Experts
Medical coders play a vital role in the growing healthcare industry, translating medical records into standardized numeric codes used to bill patients and third-party payers, such as Medicare and insurance companies. All healthcare facilities and a variety of related businesses and agencies employ medical coders, creating an array of potential workplaces for Eugene Vocational School trained professionals. Most coders work in a comfortable, professional office environment and interact as a valued team member along with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
In the world of medical coding, there are two fairly distinct groups of coders:
- Outpatient Coders perform coding for clinics, physicians offices, and hospital emergency rooms.
- Inpatient Coders perform coding in major hospitals.
As a general rule, a procedure or healthcare event that requires a hospital admittance and overnight stay is considered an inpatient event. Procedures that are performed on a same day basis where the patient is not admitted to the hospital for an overnight stay are considered outpatient events.
Physicians and hospitals are performing more and more of their procedures on an outpatient basis, creating many positions for outpatient coders and easier entry into this side of the coding field. There is a significant difference in the skill set required to apply codes to complex inpatient operative reports, and this skill set difference has placed inpatient coders in high demand, providing them greater opportunity to earn higher salaries and advance to management.
At Eugene Vocational School, our emphasis is on preparing you to become one of the highest quality coding and billing specialists, in either inpatient or outpatient coding.
- Outpatient Medical Coding and Billing prepares you for entry-level certification and entry-level employment in outpatient coding.
- Inpatient and Outpatient Medical Coding and Billing prepares you for entry-level certification and entry-level employment in inpatient coding.
Both of these programs have been specifically tailored to each career path to help you take advantage of the strong and growing demand in the industry for excellent medical coding and billing professionals. As a Eugene Vocational School student, you will develop the skills necessary to easily step into your new career upon graduation.
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