Online courses in Medical Billing (with emphasis in behavioral health)

April 2, 2013 5:23 PM

An associate of mine, who I have worked with in the past, suggested that I try medical billing as a career. This associate said there are classes online that can help me to expand my base knowledge, and in light of the new changes that have taken place regarding CPT coding, I'm looking for training that incorporates these changes.

My recent background (working as the office manager for a psychiatric practice) includes filing insurance claims, writing and filing appeals on behalf of patients and generally maneuvering around the endless phone queues of insurance carriers. I am currently temping in an administrative capacity and am looking to take an online course in order to increase my knowledge of the medical billing area, with an emphasis on the mental/behavioral health field. Ideally, I would like to be able to freelance, once I get up to speed on the more intricate areas.

I've been in Human Resources/Benefits for 20 years, but am not looking to further my career in that area.

Any recommendations on legit and good quality training options? Online would be ideal, but I'm open to brick-and-mortar (I'm in Western CT/Westchester County, NY). Thanks in advance!

posted by sundrop to Education (3 answers total)

Best answer: I would start with AHIMA's list of certified schools. When you search, you can narrow the criteria to a state and/or distance ed availability.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:00 PM on April 2, 2013

Best answer: American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC) is a legitimate and respected professional organization.

Before you sink in any money, you should look at medical billing jobs in your area and see what they require. In general, billing/coding training is not going to be offered specific to a certain specialty. The fact that you have experience in that specialty will be a bonus for someone looking to hire, but the training should be more about best practices in billing overall. Specific issues in a given specialty may be offered as continuing education.
posted by jeoc at 7:11 PM on April 2, 2013

Best answer: You may also consider getting ICD 10 training, as Medicare requires all providers to use ICD 10 starting October 2014. The ICD 9 to ICD 10 migration is a big topic these days and that knowledge is marketable.
posted by natasha_k at 5:36 AM on April 3, 2013