How to Teach Physician Billing

A physician biller documents and codes patients' medical records, submits claims to insurance companies and collects fees for services. To become a certified biller, you must take courses in the business side of health care, along with courses on different aspects of the medical profession. If you plan to teach billing, whether online, in the classroom or in a tutoring arrangement, you need to focus instruction on these key areas.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Medical terminology guide/book
• Insurance terminology guide/book
• Human anatomy & physiology guide/book
• ICD-9-CM coding book
• CPT coding book
• HCPCS coding book
• Medical dictionary

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Instructions

Fundamental Themes

• 1

  Review medical terminology. Concentrate on the three key components of medical terms (root, prefix and suffix), combining vowels, forms and compound words. Have students jot down various root words, prefixes, suffixes and combining forms, to study the definitions and create different terms.

• 2

  Explain the role of anatomy and physiology in physician billing and coding. Address the systems that the body is divided into for coding schemes: cardiovascular, digestive, dndocrine, hemic and lymphatic, musculoskeletal, nervous, male and female genital/ reproductive, respiratory, skeletal and urinary.

• 3

  Go over the various types of insurance terminology and methodologies, billing/ claim forms and different types of insurance providers and plans. Cover government insurance programs, like Medicare and Medicaid, and the distinctions between indemnity plans versus managed care plans.

• 4

  Explain the chief coding systems: CPT (Current Procedural Terminology), ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems), and HCPS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) and guidelines for each of them.