What does a Medical Coder Do?

It takes a good deal of education and training to become a skilled medical coder. To begin, coders must have a thorough knowledge of anatomy and medical terminology. It is also important to become familiar with different types of insurance plans, regulations,compliance and the coding community’s three critical resource books: CPT®, HCPCS Level II and ICD-9-CM along with their corresponding codes and guidelines.
 

Using code books the medical coder assigns correct codes to record the service levels for the procedures performed and to account for supplies used to treat the patient during an encounter with the physician. Proper assignment of ICD-9-CM codes corresponds with the physician’s diagnoses and completes the “story” of the patient’s illness or injury.

Medical Coding Courses :

Medical Terminology

Medical terminology courses teach students the meaning, spelling and use of technical terms that are used in the medical field. You will learn how to relate these terms to the correct body structures, diagnoses and treatments as well as become familiar with their common abbreviations and acronyms.

Anatomy &physiology

Common topics covered in anatomy and physiology courses include the basic biology of the human body as well as the circulatory, skeletal, muscular and nervous systems. Once you have completed this course, you will be able to identify the different body systems and understand how organs function.

Define:

Anatomy is the study of the body plan of animals/ humans. In some of its facets, anatomy is closely related to the Embryology,Comparative anatomy & Comparative embryology, through common roots in evolution.
Human anatomy is important in medicine. Is the identification and description of the structures of living things,
Which is the branch of biology and medicine.

                                                  Divided into three broad area:
                                                           Human Anatomy                                         
                                                           Zootomy(Animal) Anatomy.                                       
                                                           Phytotomy (Plant) Anatomy.

Human Anatomy :

The human anatomy is the entire structure of a human being and comprise a head,neck,trunk (which includes the thorax and abdomen) two arms and hands and two legs and feet. Every part of the body is composed of various type of cells.

Human anatomy is subdivided into Gross anatomy and Microscopic anatomy.

Medical Billing.

Common topics in medical billing courses include how to create and submit invoices for insurance companies and how to follow up on reimbursement payments. Students who take these courses learn how to verify that healthcare documentation is accurate and meets legal and ethical requirements.

Internships and Externships

Internships and externships provide hands-on experience for students who are working toward an associates degree in medical billing and coding. These internships and externships are usually unpaid and last 3 to 6 months.