What's The Stress-Free Method Of Choosing A Medical Billing Course For Your Home Based Business?
This article is "FREE" expert advice about the proper way tochoose a medical billing course for your home based medicalbilling business. The article is rather lengthy but theinformation will save you alot of money, time and aggravation!So Let's Get Started...What's The Stress-Free Method Of Choosing A Medical BillingCourse, Medical Billing Training Program or an Online MedicalBilling Course?If you don't know that's OK! Most beginners to the home basedmedical billing industry ...
...don't either but this website wascreated to give you the up-to-date (2005) expert advice that thesellers of these medical billing training courses won't tell you!Who Am I & Why Should You Follow My Advice?That's a fair question and I would be rather shocked if youdidn't want to know. Please understand that the following answerto your question is not an attempt to satisfy my own ego butrather to show you that I am not some "QUACK" that justdispenses unfounded theories or hype. My name is Paul Hackettand both my business clients and customers have dubbed me "TheMedical Billing Mastermind".I've been in the home based medical billing business for 8years, built all my businesses from scratch, have helpedhundreds of medical billing beginners start their own home basedmedical billing businesses and I am the one that most veteransin the industry contact when they need answers. I have earned mytrust within this industry by only giving useful and truthfulinformation about this field. Now that you know who I am andwhat I represent lets get down to the meat of the issue!Here's What A Medical Billing Course, Medical BillingTraining Program or Medical Billing Correspondence Course ISNOT. Sure it would be easy for me to tell what a good medical billingcourse should be comprised of (and I will in the next section soyou can see both sides of the coin) but I know from experiencethat by telling you how they shouldn't be will make a moredramatic impact on you so you will remember them instantly whenresearching an online course. Here goes:1) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't be taught by anyoneother than experienced medical billers or a successful homebased medical billing business owner.2) Your Medical Billing Training/Course shouldn't be given by anEC (Educational Clearinghouses are schools or learninginstitutions that don't specialize in any one profession butinstead teaches everything under the sun like accounting tozoology). The BIGGEST problem with EC's is that you are nottaught the in-depth and focused education that you need to beprofessional and efficient in this industry.3) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't take you 2 years tocomplete (If you are also studying to be a nationally certifiedmedical coder as well it can come close to that depending on theschool).4) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't be really short inlength (1 day to 2 weeks. What will you really learn in thatamount of time? NOTHING!)5) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't be overly expensive(learning to be a home based medical biller is not rocketscience so a medical billing training course shouldn't be morethan $700. If you are going to take courses at a local college,specialized medical billing/coding trade school or a vocationalschool then the price tag will be more. If your course includesclasses on becoming a certified medical coder the cost will alsobe more substantial).6) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't promise anyCertification (only certain organizations can award you withcertification and you will have to pass a very lengthy andextensive exam to earn their designation).7) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't push you to learn thematerial at their pace (everyone learns differently so attachingtime limits to a course is detrimental to the learning process).8) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't give you only onepayment option (everyone's financial situation is different anda good course will be flexible enough to accommodate theirstudents circumstances).9) Your Medical Billing Course shouldn't restrict you fromspeaking with other students and alumni that have taken theircourse (referrals is the best way for potential students toresearch the outcome of the course and it should be aschool/courses pleasure to supply you with ten referrals andmore if you ask).Here's What A Medical Billing Course SHOULD BE. Now that you are aware of what a medical billing courseshouldn't be like this is what a well-rounded medical billingcourse curriculum consists of:1) Introduction To Medical Billing2) Medical Office Procedures3) Documentation4) Code Usage5) Billing and Reimbursement (including electronic submission)6) Software Usage7) Operating Procedures Of A Medical Billing Business8) Effective Marketing Practices Of A Medical Billing BusinessAnything more than the above is overkill, which will lead toinformation overload (a sure way to hinder your motivation andmake you feel like quitting). Anything less than that and youwill not know enough about the business for you to pursue itprofessionally. Most beginners don't know these medical billingcourse facts and usually have to spend more money on anothercourse to get them to where they need to be (what a waste ofmoney, time and energy).What Is The Best Online Medical Billing Course? If you do a search for medical billing courses, medical billingtraining, medical billing correspondence courses, etc. I am sureyou will find at least 230,000 results. Now that's overwhelmingand it's why most people end up choosing the wrong type ofcourse.If you are looking to start a home based medical billingbusiness then your best bet is to take an online medical billingcourse that will give you a great education, a certificate ofcompletion and is convenient for you take. When I wrote my book(Medical Billing Book For Home Based Beginners:http://medicalbillingbook.tripod.com) I didn't specificallyendorse any particular software vendor, medical billing courses,clearinghouse or medical billing opportunity vendors. Instead Ilisted all the reputable firms/vendors that have stronghistories of supporting the home based medical billing industryso that my readers wouldn't get scammed when trying to choose acompany to work with.However, in late 2004 several people emailed me requesting thatI give them a clear recommendation as to which course to choosebecause they were still overwhelmed even though I only suggesteda hand full of companies to research. So I set out on a personalquest to find one or two online medical billing training coursesthat I could confidently endorse to make things a lot easier forthem.So using the criteria I mentioned in the "What A Medical BillingCourse Should Be" section to base my conclusion on I gotreferrals from students (on all levels of the courses), spoke tocourse alumni, spoke to the owners of the company and thenfinally took into consideration the price. So Far (December2005), out of the 34 courses that we have taken and reviewed Ican only professionally endorse ONE online medical billingcourse and here's why:1) This Medical Billing Training Course Is ComprehensiveWithout Going Overboard. Here's the course outline:Chapter 1: Introduction to Medical Billing - About MedicalBilling - The Basics Overview - Gathering & Entering Data -Paper Claims Processing - Electronic Claims Processing - PostingPayments - Generating - Reports - Billing Your Clients - Chapter1 ExaminationChapter 2: Understanding Office Forms - Essential Office Forms -Patient Demographic Form and Completion - Insurance Cards -Insurance Verification Form and Verification Procedures -Superbills - Daysheet - Chapter 2 ExaminationChapter 3: Understanding the HCFA 1500 - The Basics of the HCFA1500 Form - Step-By-Step Instructions for Completing a HCFA 1500- Online HCFA Form Completion Exercises - Commonly Made Errors -Chapter 3 ExaminationChapter 4: Understanding Codes CPT (Current ProceduralTechnology) Coding - Definition - Proper Usage - Resource &Reference Material ICD (International Classification of Disease)Coding - Definition - Proper Usage - Resource & ReferenceMaterial - Chapter 4 ExaminationChapter 5: Understanding the Life Cycle of an Insurance Claim -The Collection of Claim Data - Claim Information Data Entry -Claim Submission (Paper Claims, Electronic Claims, SecondaryClaims, Claims Attachments) - Posting Payments (Full Payment,Partial Payment, Deductible) - Chapter 5 ExaminationChapter 6: Working with Practice Management Software - ClinicData - Physician Data - Patient Data (Demographics Information,Insurance Information, Procedure Information, DiagnosisInformation) - Claim Generation - Report Generation - Chapter 6ExaminationChapter 7: Practical Experience Using Your Practice ManagementSoftware In this chapter you'll get all the hands-on experienceyou can handle. You will be actually entering data, generatingclaims, posting payments, running reports, etc. because that'swhat you'll go through during the "daily operations" of yourmedical billing business.***You will be supplied with everything you need tocomplete this part of the course (For Free) such as: Top-notchmedical billing software, software training workbook, a mockdata manual for data entry purposes and a supply of HCFA 1500forms.*** - Chapter 7 ExaminationChapter 8: Operating a Medical Billing Business - Naming YourBusiness - Setting Up Your Business - Office Equipment &Essentials - Services You Can Provide - Relationship Selling -Steps to Creating a Business Plan - Steps to Writing a Proposal- Chapter 8 ExaminationChapter 9: Marketing Your Medical Billing Business - PromotingYour Business - The Benefits of Selling Benefits - TargetingSpecialties - Your Market - Revenue Enhancement - SampleDocuments (Brochures, Flyers, Post-cards, Letters, Contracts,etc...)2) Every Instructor And Moderator Is A Medical BillingBusiness Owner. This is the only online medical billingtraining course that can boast of this accomplishment. Learningfrom those that are in the trenches everyday is the best form ofeducation you could ask for. Not only will the staff understandwhat you're going through today but they have the practicalexperience to properly guide you into the future.3) You Can Complete Each Chapter And The Entire Course AtYour Own Pace. Some people take a few weeks others take acouple of months to complete the whole medical billing coursebut that's OK because the course owners understand that peoplelearn differently. They want to make sure you grasp the all theconcepts before you move on which makes for a well-informedbusiness owner and professional biller.4) You Get Alot Of Bonuses That Most Courses Charge Extra For(if they offer them at all) . Here are some of them: -Course includes study guides - Course includes "Free" softwareso you get the hands-on experience you need - Course includesInternet Resources in addition to the course materials - Courseincludes "FREE" telephone, online forum and software technicalsupport5) The Investment Is More Than Reasonable and VeryFlexible. Here's what I mean: - The entire course with allthe bonuses is only $584.00 - You'll get $99.00 off the cost ifyou purchase the whole course upfront so the total investmentwill be $485.00 - You have the option to pay as you go. Pay onlyfor the chapter that you're on and when you've taken the examand are ready to move on just pay for the next one6) You Will Receive A Certificate Of Completion Once AllChapters Are Complete and The Exams Are Successfully Passed.There's More: If you possess an over-all score of 95% or betteryou will be awarded with a "Certification of SpecialDistinction" (a great marketing tool when you begin to market tophysicians).So without any further delay you can find my number one pick at:http://tinyurl.com/m194I really enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience with youand I hope that you learned what to look for when choosing anonline Medical Billing Course.Here's To Your Success,Paul Hackett "The Medical Billing Mastermind"
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