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Exploring Medical Coding and Billing Essay

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Exploring Medical Coding and Billing
When I was younger I use to pretend to be a doctor or nurse. It was always fun to go around and check to see who had a heart beat, who was bleeding, and who was hurt. I knew that I wanted a career in the medical field, but was unsure if I really wanted to be a doctor or a nurse. I thought the only career was to be a doctor or nurse. Of course, the medical profession is larger than that. It includes office staff, EMT’s, nurses, physician assistants, and several other kinds of physicians. While the opportunities are endless in this career field, I have decided that being a doctor or nurse was not what I really wanted to do. It takes too long; the schooling alone is longer than four years. I was not …show more content…

There are other credentials a person can receive. A person that is more qualified or who has credentials who receive a higher salary, than a person that only has a high school diploma. As stated by the Health Careers Center;
“Individuals who would like to become a certified medical coder must pass examinations offered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) (Medical Coding Specialist, 2002-2004).”
This is very important for me, since I have a huge family to support and time and money are tight now.
Medical Coding and Billing is a Growth Industry
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Medical Coding and Billing field is growing faster than any other field (Medical Billing & Coding Careers). The reason for this is that the more doctors’ offices open up, the more the need for medical billers and coders. As of today there are over 8000 codes being used to describe every procedure you can imagine (Sloviter, Sept-Oct 2009). Now think about being a doctor. It would be really hard for a doctor take care of his/her patients and keep track of all those codes. The field of medical coders and billers has a pay range of $8 to $10 per hour to start. However, that is also based on experience. The more experience, the more the pay. Considering that being the pay for full-time, plus any benefits such as vacation, health packages, and retirement packages – it may not seem like

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