Preview

Medical Administrative Assistant Field

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1613 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Medical Administrative Assistant Field
Medical Administrative Assistant Field
In the field of Medical Administrative Assistant, there is a multitude of career choices to branch off into. Of these many fields, the three that I choose to discuss are Medical Billing, Medical Coding and Medical Assistant. All three careers are of high demand in the medical industry and each requires the need of basic classes, with a couple of varied courses, depending on the field. Basic requirements for all include a high school diploma or GED. Most require an Associates degree, consisting of specific major courses and general liberal arts courses. Additionally, these professions can continue to advance their careers by obtaining a higher degree or attaining alternate types of specific certifications.
It can be confusing when talking about medical billing, coding and assisting. People often use these terms interchangeably, when in fact, they contain separate functions. All are within the perimeters of medical assisting job definition with both similar and differentiating roles. All three fields require a background or knowledge of medical practices and procedures, as well as special billing, coding and medical software. Medical billing and coding are often referred to as a single term; however, in terms of employment and specific roles they are quite different. Both are in high demand because of the ever-changing medical world. Hospitals, clinics and other healthcare organizations are beginning to recognize the significance of technology in the industry. With the increasing amount of patient data being transferred between locations and facilities, efficiency and simplicity is of utmost relevance. Medical Assisting takes on a slightly different role. It can be administrative, clinical or a combination of the two, depending on the employer’s industry and needs. The following is a breakdown of the specifics of the three above named careers; their similarities, differences, roles, responsibilities, tasks,



References: HealthCareerChoices.com. (2010). Medical Billing and Coding Overview. http://www.healthcareerchoices.com/jobs/medical-billing-coding/. Retrieved June 21, 2011. MedicalCodingandBilling. (2011). Medical Coding and Billing: Success of Hidden Pitfalls Exposed. Retrieved June 22, 2011, from http://www.medicalcodingandbilling.com American Academy of Professional Coders. (2011). Credentialing the Business Side of Medicine. Retrieved June 22, 2011, from http://www.aapc.com What are you Worth?. (2011). In Salary Index. Retrieved June 22, 2011, from http://www.salary.com/mysalary.asp

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ensuring all employees are properly trained, and allowing them to use software to double check their coding could significantly help improve the coding and billing process in an medical facility.…

    • 268 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hcr/220 Week 9

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The submittal of claims to insurance companies requesting payment for medical services provided by a doctor to a patient is called the medical billing process. Ten steps make up the process: preregistration of patients; establishment of financial responsibility for the visit; checking patients in; checking patients out; the review of coding compliance; verifying billing compliance; the preparation and transmittal of claims; the monitoring of payer adjudication; generation of patient statements; and the follow-up of payments by the patients and the handling of collections. HCPCS, HIPAA, CPT, and ICD have an influence on every step of the process. The 9th Revision-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) is a global categorization of disease and contains sets of codes. These codes give information for evenly measures and diagnoses. The ICD-9 code has three digits, and these three may be followed by a decimal point and then two more digits. The Healthcare Common procedure coding system (HCPCS) does not give diagnosis information, only information about the procedure area. The purpose of HCPCS codes is to process hospital treatments for outpatient services. Physicians also use these codes. ICD-9 procedure codes are required by HIPAA for their porting procedures of hospital inpatients. The numerical codes for CPT and the diagnoses areas signed by the coding team. They make these assignments based on information given by the provider. A charge is then created, following the billing rules that pertain to certain locations and carriers. People who work on the process of medical billing have to maintain patient information confidentiality based on HIPPA rules. Employees must also be truthful and conduct themselves with integrity. Every procedure and diagnosis has to be correctly documented and then coded accurately to avoid any delays in…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medical billing and coding is a lot more detailed and difficult that many people outside of the medical field know. Because there are so many different codes and the numbers of different insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid all have different codes among themselves it can become overwhelming for the billing staff in offices to make sure that everything is right. Unfortunately all the codes have to be correct in order for doctors and hospitals to get paid in a timely manner. All medical billing is started the same way though.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The medical coding process can be very difficult to understand. Today, I will do my best to try and explain it as simply as possible. It is my goal to make you, the employees, understand this process better so that your job becomes easier to complete.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The BLS reported that medical administrative assistants earned $29,960 annually in 2014. Per Payscale as of September 2015 medical assistants earned from $22,654 up to $53,756. It is reported by the BLS that between 2012 and 2022 the salary will increase by 29%. I learned that to be a medical administrative assistant there is no formal education needed, but you must have a high school diploma in order to be qualified. That is not to say that most employers do prefer an applicant to be certified and/or have passed an exam, or completed an accredited program. Even when you are certified or have an accredited program under your belt, there still is on-the-job training. The training begins once you are hired and can take up to a number of months to complete…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I was born and raised in New York. Now that I have a daughter and a son on the way I want to be close to the city but still be able to have a backyard for my kids. I believe New Jersey is a great location where I can still have my career and children can live in a home rather than apartment.…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clinics, hospitals, and other medical settings are well-organized environments; each staff member has their individual responsibilities that contribute to the success of the health service center. A doctor’s job, for example, involves the direct interaction with patients, as well as diagnosing and illness or injury and prescribing treatment options based on their observations and the client’s personal history record. Some physicians may prefer to write their own letters in certain circumstances, however, they are generally very busy, seeing one patient after another for the entire duration of each day. Because of this, medical and administrative assistants handle a lot of the primary arrangements regarding the appointment scheduling, examination room organization and sanitization, checking patients in and out, as well as various other tasks that the physicians simply do not have time for.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First and foremost, there is insurance registration of all patients, which is considered to be the start of the revenue cycle. For instance, healthcare administrators should make the front-desk employees a checklist to make sure they are collecting the proper insurance information when scheduling appointments. This strategy is important because it allows the patient to understand if their physician is in network, if they have a co-payment or if they need an insurance referral, which are all important reimbursements methods for the facility (Crocker, 2016). The next strategy relates to properly billing patient claims in order to receive full reimbursement. Therefore, the coders have to be educated continuously to make sure all claims are sent out to the proper payer with the correct diagnoses, services and procedures. Improper claims result in a late payment or no payment at all, which will hurt the facility’s level of reimbursement. The last strategy is to implement a financial policy for patients. A binding policy requires patient signatures as well as providing them guidance to the policy of collecting co-payments and unpaid balances. In other words, a well-written policy will prevent patients from being surprised about their financial commitment when they see the provider (Ciletti, 2004). This policy will allow the organization to collect more payments as well as helping the providers and medical staff to be properly…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When people think about jobs in the health care field, it can be easy to assume that most jobs involve direct, hands-on patient care. What many people don’t realize is that administrative jobs are equally vital to ensuring quality health care services. Medical billing and coding is an important piece in the administrative puzzle that makes up the vast health industry. As with most administrative jobs, medical coding and billing professionals need to have excellent attention to detail, as one wrong code or inaccurate statement can have an extremely negative impact on a health care facility.…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The medical billing and coding process involves numerous tasks completed by all staff members of a medical facility to provide quality care while protecting the privacy of patients and expediting the payment of services. Ten steps are used to complete this process; pre-registration of patients, establishing financial responsibility for visits, check in of patients, check out of patients, review of coding compliance, a check of billing compliance, preparation and transmittal of claims, monitoring payer adjudication, generating patient statements and handling collections. During pre-registration, HIPAA policies are reviewed and signed by the patient to inform him or her of their rights and responsibilities; therefore, informing the patient of…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Review Procedures and Documents from Physicians: Every physician will provide a written record of the procedures performed with each patient. As a medical billing and coding specialist, you’ll be expected to translate these procedures into numerical codes read…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In and Out

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Another determining factor you should use to find the type of care is the time the patient spent in the facility. “If the patient is in the facility for more than 24 hours than it is inpatient care, if it is less than 24 hours than it is outpatient care (Associated Content from Yahoo!).”…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Medical Billing Process

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the medical billing process, there are significant and mandatory steps that healthcare workers need to do. Preregister patients are the first step, and this contains two major duties. The first duty is to schedule appointments because the patients need to have a time and date to see the physician, plus to update appointments. Gather preregistration demographic and a patient’s insurance information. A new patient that calls for an appointment needs to provide information (Valerius, J., Bayes, N., Newby, C., & Blochowiak, A., 2014).…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medical Coding Career

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The career I will be pursing is Medical Coding. After receiving my Medical Assistant diploma, I started working in a Pediatric clinic in the back office doing patient care and front office scheduling appointments and receiving and posting payments, I also researched and assigned medical codes for outpatient billing using International Classification of Disease- ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9) and the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding books. Medical Coding. I then went to work coding inpatient records. It is a little different from coding outpatient medical records. I worked in coding for several years and since I have been out of medical coding for a while. A lot has changed in that period of time they have moved forward with ICD-10 coding book is…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Personal Ihealth Literacy

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages

    While reviewing these charts, I became interested in the medical coding that I would read on the plan of care. Since I have not had any job satisfaction since I was downsized, I felt it was time to take a step to get myself into a position that is more fulfilling than the one I have now. I have talked with people I work with about medical coding, and they suggested I look into it as they felt it would be a good fit for me. I like a job that is challenging, makes me think, and work hard. Becoming a medical coder is a position I feel that will be challenging because it will make me think, and it is also a job which, I would say, consists of doing investigative work as you are looking into a book to find the most accurate code you need in order to tell the “story” of the patient’s diagnosis and services rendered.…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays