What is the Difference Between Medical Billing and Medical Coding?

Medical Billing and Coding – 2 Separate Fields

Are Medical Billing and Coding the same?  NO.  Medical Billing and Medical Coding are 2 separate fields, entirely!  And, they should never, ever be studied as one course!

For the past several years, the Diploma Mill (educational clearinghouse) companies have lumped Medical Billing and Coding in the same category in order to sell very sub-par (usually worthless) courses to the public.  A Diploma Mill sells just about any course you can think of (black jack, real estate investing, pet grooming, astrology, plumbing, etc).

Diploma Mill:  an institution or organization that grants large numbers of educational degrees based on inadequate or inferior education.  They usually call themselves “colleges”, or “learning/career institutes.”  These programs are scams.

Medical Billing

Medical Billing is an accounting for medical bills and medical claims submitted on behalf of a patient.  This field has to do with accounting, and nothing to do with coding.  The Medical Biller handles the Revenue Cycle Management for the medical facility.

Revenue Cycle Management: (RCM) is the financial process, utilizing medical billing software, that healthcare facilities use to track patient care episodes from registration and appointment scheduling to the final payment of a balance.

A Medical Biller is trained in the accounting of the patient’s monetary obligations, whether this be via personal payment or payment from insurance.  A Medical Billing Course Program usually takes approximately 4-6 weeks to complete.  The tool of the trade is the Practice Management / Medical Billing Software Program.  To be properly trained as a Medical Biller, learning and using a Practice Management / Medical Billing Software Program is vital.

Any Medical Billing Course that does not provide Practice Management / Medical Billing Software training is seriously lacking in their ability to accurately train the Medical Billing Student.

Medical Billing Course.com not only provides its students with Practice Management / Medical Billing Software training, it also provides hands-on use of a live, fully functional Practice Management / Medical Billing Software Program in the course curriculum.

Medical Coding

Medical Coding is the process of taking long hand notes and documentation and transferring these into codes.  The notes with regard to the diagnosis of a patient are transferred to an ICD (International Classification of Diseases) code.  The notes with regard to the procedures rendered on a patient are transferred to a CPT (Current Procedural Technology) code.

A Medical Coder is trained in Medical Terminology, Anatomy, Physiology and Biology.  The tools of the trade is the ICD and CPT Coding structure.  A Medical Coding Course can take up to 2 years or longer to complete.

So as you can see, Medical Billing and Coding are not one in the same and are actually very different and should not be included in the same course, period.  Many people have wasted thousands of dollars on “Medical Billing and Coding Courses” from Diploma Mills.  Just don’t do it.