Medical Billing and Coding Training

The Medical Billing and Coding Training course is an interactive training course covering both CPT and ICD-9 coding. The course is structured with two components. A computer run-through of how to code every diagnosis or procedure presented is followed by actually finding the code in the appropriate code books. A full tutorial on using the medical billing and coding program is available at the click of a button. The underlying learning strategy of the course is that it is completely stress-free and it progresses at the natural learning rate of the trainee, guiding and supporting the trainee by offering help only when the trainee asks for it. This removes the frustration of laboriously working through traditional training course exercises when the answer is already known. For beginning trainees, it is recommended that they take our medical terminology training course prior to starting the billing and coding course, as knowledge of the meanings of medical terms is crucial to success.

Trainees can either choose which of the 20 medical billing and coding specialties they want to study from a course-maker menu, or can take the included evaluation module and let the software design a medical billing and coding training program for them based on their evaluation results.

The course starts with the presentation of a procedure or diagnosis for medical billing and coding and the trainee then has to click on the critical words to select them for billing and coding. For a trainee coder, recognition of keywords is one of the most difficult skills to master as it normally comes only with experience. If a trainee finds and clicks critical words, they are added to the search box at the bottom of the screen, and if the trainee cannot find any or all of the required words - no problem - help is available.

If the trainee has a problem identifying the critical words, a "Turn on Word Color" option is available where words change color to indicate primary, secondary and supporting medical billing and coding words as the mouse pointer runs over them. This is an active learning phase as trainees are encouraged to guess the critical words, and can find out if they are right by seeing if the word changes color when they point at it. It's rather like putting a jigsaw puzzle together - there's no penalty for trying a piece that doesn't fit, and you get the satisfaction when you find a piece that does fit. As the course progresses, the 'guesses' become more accurate as trainees gain recognition knowledge and experience.

Once the trainee has discovered all the critical words, the "Search Computer Database" button turns green, and the possible medical billing and coding solutions are displayed in a box at the bottom of the screen. These solutions mimic the choices that will be found in the coding book when the trainee is coding directly from a code book using the critical words from the procedure or diagnosis. Trainees have the opportunity to compare the subtle differences between the potential code solutions, and proceed only when they find and click the correct solution.

When the trainee clicks on the correct medical billing code from the possible billing and coding solutions, a modifier screen is displayed if the medical billing code requires a modifier. Again, trainees have the opportunity to compare the subtle differences between the modifiers to the procedure or diagnosis to be coded, and proceed when they have found and clicked the correct answer.

When the correct medical billing and coding modifier is chosen, the program then moves to "Coding from the book" mode. A "Hint" button is available throughout this billing and coding phase (blue box at the top of the screen) which leads the trainee through the physical activity of medical billing and coding from the codebook if help is required. If the trainee needs more than just a basic hint, the exercise is marked as incomplete and the procedure or diagnosis for billing and coding is re-presented in the course at a later date.

A full reporting module is contained in the program which reports a trainees competency at basic, intermediate and advanced levels for each of the 20 medical specialties, and also reports the trainee's medical billing and coding evaluation results for each medical specialty.