Medical Billing: Is It Just A Job or Can It Be A Career?
What’s the difference between just having a job versus having a career? Well, let’s talk about it for a minute. A job is work or duties that a person performs in exchange for payment so they can get paid and make a living. Many people have different jobs that they perform each day. People fall into daily routines and work 9-5 hours or whatever hours their job requires, and are waiting for their next paycheck. But the question is do most people work jobs they see as rewarding careers? Or maybe you ask yourself do you see your job as a career?
No job is perfect, but you wonder if this is just a job for a paycheck or is this something you can do and really work towards becoming good at what you do by working hard, motivating yourself to seek continuing education in your career, and obtaining personal as well as professional goals you want to accomplish. This is what having a career is. To progress yourself, your skills, and abilities in the job that you perform, not just go to work every day with no intention of excelling to your highest potential. If your job is not an interest of yours, you may need to take the opportunity to figure out what your interests are and what you are creative at doing and make a career of that. If your job is something that interests you, and something that you love to do or are passionate about, wouldn’t you do what was needed to be the best at it? Of course, you would!
If you work in the healthcare industry as a medical biller, you know the many encounters you deal with from working with people to processing claims and talking to insurance companies and patients, and you wonder if this is something you want to do for the rest of your life. You may want to ask yourself a few questions: Is being a medical biller an interest of mine? Are there growth opportunities for being a medical biller? Am I willing to learn new things? Am I willing to work hard as a medical biller to obtain my career goals? What am I doing to make sure my job is fulfilling me professionally?
If it is very difficult for you to answer these questions, then you may be working as a medical biller just so you can pay the bills, and with this, you may not be enjoying it and dread going to work every day. If you can answer these questions with no problem and you still think medical billing is for you then you are off to a great start! This shows that you view your job as a career and something you can build upon professionally. And if at first, this was just a job, but you think you can be great as a medical biller then you can also build it as a great career! So, you may be wondering, well what can I do to make this career?
Be An Open Book To Learn
Allow yourself to be open to learning as you perform your job. Doing the job as a routine and not learning and retaining the information will not help you gain the knowledge that you need to excel in your career. Learn the billing software front to back from processing the claim to running account reports, and how it can benefit the processes of completing your tasks. Some billing software companies offer online tutorials as well as webinars on how to use the billing software to its fullest potential.
Allow yourself to learn from your fellow peers or co-workers and never feel that you know more than the next person. Medical billing changes every day. Just when you think you finally learned something to help process a claim, something else comes along and changes it all together, and you are back at square one. We can agree to disagree on how to get a claim paid or what steps you should take to increase revenue, but at the same time, embrace the knowledge of someone else’s ideas or plan and discuss to reach goals.
Reading and Researching
As a medical biller, it is important to keep yourself current on every aspect of your job such as staying on top of billing guidelines and regulations. You can do this daily by reading medical billing books, articles, and blog posts, listening to podcasts, and joining online community groups for medical billers. This helps gives you insight into what is currently going on. That way you are aware of the changes that may be occurring within the healthcare system that could affect the way you do your job.
As you work and come across issues with billing every day, research information that may be able to help you with challenges. The internet is becoming our research friend. There is unlimited information on the internet that can open up new ideas and educate you as to how to handle situations you may be encountering. Just make sure that what you research is a reliable source you can trust.
Educate Yourself
Striving to be a medical biller with a successful career also entails continuous education. Take a medical billing course to learn more detailed information about the job or if you just want a refresher course. There are options for online courses for convenience and flexibility as well as campuses that cater to those who may learn better in a classroom setting. Either way, you should want to invest in your career by gaining an education to help you reach your highest potential possible.
Taking courses can lead to your certification as well as earn you Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Another way to educate yourself is by taking the time to participate in online webinars to educate yourself as a medical biller. Some insurance companies host weekly or monthly webinars that will educate and inform you about things that may be beneficial to you. All you have to do is sign up or register for the webinar on their website!
Attend Conferences
If you can, attend a medical billing or health care conference! Conferences can be a great way to get involved more with all aspects of medical billing and healthcare. This also gives you the ability to travel and network with others like you or those who are in higher positions you may be aiming towards yourself!
Conferences allow you the opportunity to gain knowledge about the career you’re in and hopefully educate you on resolving medical billing challenges that medical billers deal with every day.
Again, this is a great way to take the initiative to continuously educate yourself on something that interests you and you want to make a career out of. So use those internet skills and look into events and conferences that may be near you!
All of these points are a great way to get more involved in your medical billing career, and could potentially be what you need to push yourself to the professional level you desire. With self-motivation and hard work, these things can be accomplished and take you well on your way to a successful career, and we have a free guide to help you get started. So, ask yourself again are you just working a job, or are you working towards a rewarding career? It’s up to you to get there, so why not go the extra mile and invest in your career?
Note:
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