Medical Billing and Coding Program

Summary Description:

CSU Los Angeles’ Program in Medical Billing and Coding equips students to understand how to code health care services for third party insurance reimbursement, an extremely fast -growing career in today’s economy. Among the many health care practices that depend on proper coding and billing are physician practices, hospitals, pharmacies, long-term care facilities, chiropractic practices, and physical therapy providers. Job prospects remain good in this area of health-care practice because of the prevalence of “managed care,” and because insurance companies and the government are vitally interested in controlling claims’ fraud and mitigating abusive billing practices.

In this intensive, 80-hour program, students will learn how medical billing records are produced and kept, and how patient charges are billed and calculated. They will understand how claims are filed, using CPT or ICD-9 manual forms, and how to solve insurance billing problems. Students will gain experience in completing common insurance forms, as well as using generic forms (CMS 1500) to streamline billing procedures. Students will become aware of how to trace delinquent claims (EOB’s). Finally, students will be introduced to billing in the specialty fields of surgery, radiology, and laboratory work.

The course may ultimately lead the student to seek certification through one of the national medical coding exams, such as the AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders); the CPC (Certified Professional Coder Exam), and others. Students should be aware, however, that the national exams often require a suggested period of practical coding experience (often six months to as much as two years) prior to taking the exam or receiving the full professional certification.

Who Can Enroll?

Students should have a high school diploma or GED to enroll in the program. A working knowledge of basic computer office applications is also helpful, although the use of a computer is not required in this entry-level course.

Course Descriptions:

In more specific detail, the course will cover these areas in approximately this sequence :

• A career as an insurance coding specialist
  
• Guidelines for documenting claims; legal aspects affecting insurance claims and medical records
  
• Basics of health insurance and procedural coding
  
• Introduction to the CPT manual
  
• Patient evaluation; management services
  
• Specialty coding: Anesthesia/Surgery; Radiology and Pathology; Laboratory Medicine
  
• Diagnosis Coding
  
• Modifications to CPT coding
  
• Introduction to International Classification of diseases
  
• Health Insurance claim form (CMS 1500)
  
• HIPAA (privacy of patient records) and EDI (electronic data interchange) issues
  
• Tracing Delinquent claims; Insurance Problem solving
• Managed care systems: Medicare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans; Medicaid and other State Programs; Worker’s Compensation issues; Disability Income Insurance, and Disability Benefit Programs

Program Cost:

The tuition cost for 21 meetings (twice per week for ten weeks + final exam) is $1,899.

Course Schedule:

Courses will meet two evenings per week from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., exact days to be determined each quarter according to a Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday schedule. A total of 80 classroom hours constitutes one complete session of the course. Classes will meet in university classrooms on the campus of CSULA. Contact (323)343-4900 for classroom location.

Job Prospects and Potential Salary :

The future career prospects in medical billing and coding are “bright,” according to Healthcarejobs.org and www.thehighschoolgraduate.com. Someone with certification in medical billing and coding has a variety of job options, ranging from medical office receptionist, to medical records coders and billers, to medical billing manager . Further, these duties may be performed in a variety of settings, including the flexibility of working from home.

The median salaries for the range of professions begin at $12 - $13 per hour, while most billers and coders working in the context of professional physician practices earn between $29 ,000 - $30,000 per year (source: www.payscale.com/research); medical billing managers may make in the range of $38,000 per year.

Instructors:

All instructors are provided by Condensed Curriculum International and are familiar with the requirements of the certifying boards.

Contact Us:

For more information please contact the College of Extended Studies and Education at California State University, Los Angeles, at (323)343- 4967; www.calstatela.edu/extension .

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Course Schedule Winter 2013

Medical Billing & Coding Program
Course No.	C131218
Course Fee	$1,899 (Textbooks included)
Date	Tuesdays and Thursdays, March 19 - June 6
Time	6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Length	80 hours
Location	Golden Eagle West, Room 220A