Medical Billing School – A Bad Investment

by Carl Mays II

ClaimCare Medical Billing Services has interviewed countless candidates that have just graduated from a medical billing school and coding school. As a rule, we find that the courses in a medical billing school (and coding school) add little value or knowledge to the resume of an individual with no prior medical billing experience.

The majority of graduates we do hire start in our apprenticeship program – a position they could have obtained without a medical billing school investment. They start out alongside other apprentices that have no experience and no formal training in medical billing.

The reason for this is that the academic knowledge gained from medical billing school rarely translates well into practical, hands on medical billing skills. If anything, medical billing companies find that we have to undo incorrect concepts and lessons that have been learned in medical billing school. In addition, medical billing students often believe they have nothing left to learn and this makes them poor students in the real lessons of medical billing.

A better path into medical billing is to avoid spending money on a medical billing school and instead spend time finding a medical billing company or doctor’s practice that will let you start your medical billing career by calling on medical claims or verifying patient insurance information prior to the patient’s appointment.

Both of these activities give individuals a solid base for launching a medical billing career. They provide the individual with both a grounds up understanding of the building blocks of medical billing and a real medical billing job on their resume.

Finding a company that will allow you to start with these basic medical billing tasks may take a bit more effort than applying to medical billing school, but in the end you will have better medical billing skills, have a better resume and earn money while you learn the medical billing craft.

Once you have established skills as a medical biller, then it can be helpful to study for and take a certified coder exam. A certified coder with no medical billing experience, however, is not in great demand.

So, if you want to break into the field of medical billing please consider pursuing an apprenticeship model it will serve you (and your future employer) much better than a medical billing school education.

About the Author:

Carl Mays II is President and Chairman of ClaimCare Medical Billing Services. Carl has worked with physicians and administrators for almost 15 years. He is an expert on medical billing companies and the medical billing industry. You can read more of his articles on his medical billing blog.

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