Sure it would be easy for someone to tell you what good online medical billing courses should be comprised of. However, by showing you what they SHOULD NOT be will make a more dramatic impact on you so you will remember them instantly when researching an online course. Ready?
1) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT be taught by anyone other than experienced medical billers, medical coders or a successful medical billing business owner.
2) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT be given by an Educational Clearinghouse (school that teaches everything from accounting to zoology). The BIGGEST problem with EC’s is that you are not taught the in-depth education that you need to be proficient within this industry.
3) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT take you 2 years to complete unless one of the following applies:
a.) Your current situation doesn’t allow you to dedicated the necessary time to complete the course sooner,
b.) Your course also consists of additional subjects such as medical transcription, medical coding or healthcare management.
c.) Your course also prepares you to sit for one of the National Certification Exams given by the The American Medical Billing Association (AMBA), The American Association Of Professional Coders (AAPC) or American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
4) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT be really short in length. A really good course should cover the 8 essential aspects of doing medical billing as a business and that cannot be properly learned in a cram course or seminar type course.
5) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT be overly expensive. The norm for a good online program is between $500 – $700 and anything above that is usually a sign that the school is trying to pad their pockets at your expense. However if your course also includes classes on becoming a nationally certified medical coder or medical transcriptionist then the cost could get as high as $2,500.
6) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT promise any CERTIFICATION. Only 3 organizations can award you with certification and you will have to pass a very lengthy and extensive exam to earn your designation. When you take a course the most that they can give you is called a Certificate Of Completion” which means that you satisfied the requirements of the course and have been awarded the certificate as proof that you did.
7) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT push you to learn the material at their pace. People learn differently and attaching unrealistic time limits to a course is very detrimental to the learning process.
8) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT give you only one payment option. Any good school will be flexible enough to accommodate each student’s different financial circumstances and online courses are no different.
9) Medical Billing Courses online SHOULD NOT restrict you from speaking with current students, students from other courses and alumni. It should be a school/courses pleasure to supply you with as many referrals that you may ask for and if they don’t that’s a BIG RED FLAG!
One of the biggest reasons that people fail in the home based medical billing industry is because of FEAR. This fear overcomes those that realize they invested time and money in online medical billing courses and they still feel like they know nothing after they completed the course. Don’t allow that to happen to you so educate yourself on what you should be looking for before you spend any money taking an online medical billing course.
