How to Work from Home Doing Medical Billing and Coding

Medical billing and coding professionals are a guild of individuals who can often arrange to work from the comfort of their homes. Working from home can eliminate expensive commuting costs, provide for more time with family, and generally help an individual to streamline life goals and manage a work/life balance. If you are interested in figuring out how to work from home doing medical billing and coding, here are some of the most popular steps in securing this sort of employment.

Fulfill education requirements. In addition to a high school degree or equivalent, medical career individuals such as billers and coders often start with an associate's degree from an accredited school of higher education. Many follow this with a bachelor's degree, or even a master's, or engage in other kinds of continuing education that can prove extremely useful at any stage in a medical billing and coding career.

Build the skills to prove yourself as a medical billing and coding professional. Another key step in securing work in this industry is to prove that you have the expertise to handle complex medical documents.

1. • Learn the medical coding conventions and master them. Universal coding practices like ICD-9 or ICD 10 diagnostic classifications and CPT or procedure codes can be partially learned from an entry-level role in medical administration. Get a good grasp of these coding standards to start building your career.
   • Understand the uses of forms such as UB40 and HCFA billing documents, explanation of benefits documents, and other sorts of documents involved in medical billing and coding. This knowledge will also help you advance your career in this field.
Get hired as a medical billing and coding professional

. Most of those who end up working from home in medical billing began with a more conventional job in a medical office. Starting out in the medical office helps you prove that you have the ability to work on-site or to work from home, and are not just seeking out work-at-home opportunities because of some general inability to fit into an office environment. Over time, you may shift your office job into a work-at-home role by carefully negotiating with management or making job changes within your chosen career field.

Ask employers about work-at-home opportunities

. One of the first steps for those who are already working in a medical office of medical billing and coding and want to work at home is to inquire about any available choices that the employer grants to long-term workers. Ask about a time frame for arranging work-from-home opportunities, or what sorts of situations would allow you to work at home.

Handle employer limitations with potential job changes

. If a current employer will not allow you to work from home, it's possible that others will. Many medical billing and coding professionals need to pursue additional opportunities while working a job in order to keep earning income while finding work-at-home options.

• Think about going out on your own. If you can't find medical billing and coding jobs from home, you may be able to use the above qualifications and expertise to start your own medical billing and coding business. You'll need to figure out how to deal with legislation like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other industry-specific requirements. But if you have the ability to start a business, as well as competence in medical billing and coding, you could find that self-employment is a better option for a work-at-home career.