Medical Billing and Coding Training Key Terms

Get help with medical billing and coding training key terms for business
By J. Stoltzfus, writer/programmer LOCAL CITIZEN In the world of medical billing and coding training, there are some key terms for billers and coders to get familiar with. Of course, there is all of the clinical language that goes along with the medical field, but there are also specific terms that have grown up around the specific bureaucracy of billing and coding claims.

Knowing about these fundamentals can help managers who want to be involved in the billing end of the business or participate in medical coding training. Books and resources are available for sale online to give readers a better idea of what's involved in some of these key terms. Manager/trainers might look for:

1. Words and terms to denote types of billing forms, specifically, the UB40 and the HCFA 1500, which are used in medical billing and coding training to inform students about how billing is done.

2. Terms for specific coding implementations or other parts of a bill or claim form for use in medical billing courses.

3. Other lingo for industry software or commonly recognized elements or practices, to prepare students in medical billing schools.

Find medical billing and coding training resources about claim forms

For medical billing training or other similar functions like medical transcription training, staff can rely on two main types of claim forms. The first is the HCFA 1500 and related form types. The second is the UB40 or UB-92. These forms differ in the types of billing charges they represent: billing line items from a physician are billed separately from items from a hospital or medical network.
Try:  For an up close look at a HCFA form or to buy a stock for your office, check out the HCFA page at FormsandChecks.com. To learn more about the UB type form, check out the American Medical Billing Association website.

Find out about medical billing and coding training terms like CPT and ICD-9

More terms involve the types of coding that are on the different kinds of claims and bills. These codes represent state of the art procedures for defining conditions, treatments and anything that can go on a claim or bill.
Try:  CPT codes identify procedures and help streamline billing and claim communications. Find out more with resources from the AMA bookstore. The same site handles books on the ICD-9 code set, an international guide to coding diagnosis.

Find more medical billing and coding training terms

For the rest of the alphabet soup that goes along with medical billing, from EOB (Explanation of Benefits), COB (coordination of benefits) and similar terms, check out online sites offering a thorough glossary of terminology a medical coder will use in a medical billing office.
Try:  The Medical Billing and Coding Net site has compiled a list of "Medical Billing Lingo" for your edification. Also try the medical billing and insurance glossary at Mesothelioma Aid, as many of these terms are useful in medical billing & coding training.

• For in-house medical billing and coding training or other solutions like medical coding distance learning, find the scope you want for a program. For practical "desk use," a survey of the different elements of billing and coding may be enough. For more long-term solutions, you may want to set up a formal training program that leads students toward certificiation.