By: Paige Cerulli
Professional insights: Amy Jenkins
Medical billing and coding can be a highly rewarding career, and completing a program in billing and coding may often be the first step in starting your career. But once you’re working as a medical biller or coder, your education doesn’t—and shouldn’t—stop, especially with all the changes in technologies occurring in the medical industry. Instead, continuing education is essential to being able to do your job well, maybe even earn a higher salary and develop specialized skills that may help you qualify for more advanced positions.
Why continuing education is important in medical billing and coding careers
New technologies, policies and practices are shaping the rapidly-evolving healthcare industry. Continuing education is essential in helping medical billers and coders keep up with those changes.
New technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), is shaping the programs and processes used in billing and coding, and it’s making continuing education more important. While the technology can enhance operations, it comes with a learning curve as well as an enhanced focus on data security best practices.
Amy Jenkins, MA, RHIA, CDIP, COC, CPC, CRC, CEMC, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington School of Public Health. She explained that medical billers and coders need to be ready to learn the technology that’s being implemented.
“There are also lots of opportunities coming up with AI and machine learning that are making data operations more efficient,” said Jenkins. “Along with these major changes comes the responsibility to keep data safe. It is crucial to understand both the new technology as well as the governing regulations to ensure cybersecurity in order to protect sensitive protected health information, especially in billing and coding.”
At the same time, healthcare industry regulations frequently change, and billers and coders need to stay aware of these changes. Jenkins noted that reimbursements are declining and the cost of healthcare is rising, so maintaining positive margins is more challenging for practices. “This makes keeping up with current industry regulations and changes more important than ever,” explained Jenkins.
“I think we have to think about the fact that the healthcare industry is constantly changing and evolving,” she said. As practices implement new technologies, the state and federal regulations continuously change and codes update annually, billers and coders simply have to continue to learn, or the quality of their work will suffer. “We need continuing education to identify opportunities to update our practices, to find efficiencies and to make sure that our providers are getting paid for what they do in a timely manner,” Jenkins noted.
Potential consequences of lack of continuing education
If medical billers and coders don’t pursue continuing education, there may be significant consequences, including:
- Unfamiliarity with changing and updated codes that could result in coding mistakes. Those mistakes could cause claims to immediately be rejected.
- If medical billers and coders aren’t aware of the newest code combinations and billing options, they might not bill accurately or appropriately. This lack of awareness might equate to lost revenue for a medical facility.
- When medical billers and coders make mistakes on claims because they’re unaware of industry changes and advancements, those claims need to be corrected and resubmitted. The billers and coders spend more billable hours correcting the claims and the reimbursement cycle is delayed, which can impact the practice’s revenue.
Lack of continuing education not only impacts billers and coders but the practices they work for. Not only should billers and coders want to pursue continuing education to keep their hard and soft skills up-to-date so that they can do their jobs better, but medical practices should want to mandate that employees complete continuing education. Doing so means they can be more accurate and efficient, helping the practice.
Professional certification and continuing education
Medical billers and coders who hold professional certifications may need to meet continuing education requirements to maintain those credentials. That’s particularly important for coders. “With credentials come continuing education units (CEU) requirements,” said Jenkins. “The more credentials you have, the more CEUs are required.”
Jenkins explains that CEUs sometimes transfer from one organization to another, but professionals who hold credentials from different organizations are often required to get separate CEUs. “For example, I hold credentials with both the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC),” she said. “Some CEUs cross over while others do not, depending on the topic and domain requirements.”
How continuing education may impact career and earning potential
Pursuing ongoing educational opportunities is essential to helping medical billers and coders maintain the quality of their work. If these professionals aren’t staying current with their job’s requirements and the skills and knowledge needed, their performance can suffer and they can become less competitive candidates.
“For example, if you are a coder and you are still working with an old coding manual from 2023, you may not know that many of the codes and their descriptions have changed dramatically in the last two years,” explained Jenkins. “There are new codes, codes that are no longer active and changes made annually to the code sets so you must keep up. Coming to the table with outdated skills not only negatively impacts the quality of your work, but it could also even negatively impact patient care and legal compliance, placing your organization at risk both legally and financially. In our current economic climate, errors made by outdated skills could result in significant financial losses due to rework, denials or even regulatory fines and penalties.”
Additionally, continuing to advance in their education can help billers and coders keep up with industry standards and demonstrate their expertise in the field. “It demonstrates your desire to continuously learn, and your commitment to growth,” said Jenkins. “Employers see that and often may be willing to pay you more because of that.”
Pursuing continuing education opportunities may also open up new advancement opportunities. For example, a biller or coder might decide to pursue a new specialization or focus area that comes with higher earning potential. A resume demonstrating multiple certifications and recently completed coursework may stand out from the competition and may help them secure a new position or qualify for a promotion. Such career advancements may come with increased salaries, too, helping them to maximize their earning potential.
Continuing education through networking and professional development
While continuing education can help billers and coders develop key skills and knowledge, maintain certifications and build their resumes, it comes with another important benefit: Valuable networking and professional development opportunities.
Jenkins found valuable networking opportunities while pursuing continuing education, and those opportunities helped spur the growth of her career. “When I was in school for my Health Informatics and Health Information Management (HIHIM) degree, I networked with many of the students in my cohort,” she said. “One of those students ended up having an opportunity for a program manager position and hired me for that role after graduation based on the relationship we built over the course of our education. I was also exposed to former students, guest speakers, site visits and professionals in the industry and that allowed me to build my network. I even learned about conferences I could attend that would continue to expand my professional network and get my name and face out there in the industry.”
Jenkins noted that continuing education may expose billers and coders to other areas of the healthcare industry that they might not have considered. “Sometimes you discover something that you are really excited about,” she said. “When you ask people how they ended up in their roles, a lot of time you will hear about how exposure to new learning opportunities led them to explore a new career path.”
What to expect from continuing education
Medical billing and coding continuing education coursework may focus on key areas and skills that are essential to the career. Courses may cover one or several different topics and evolving best practices for each:
- Revenue cycle strategy or revenue optimization courses help prepare professionals for leadership positions. These courses encompass all elements of the revenue cycle, from patient registration and insurance verification to billing and collections.
- Advanced coding techniques like risk adjustment coding or surgical coding prepare coders and billers to negotiate more challenging, advanced and specific scenarios.
- Regulatory compliance courses help professionals stay abreast of evolving compliance requirements and the challenges they can pose in the healthcare industry.
- Denial management courses may focus on how to manage denied claims, including how to identify denial causes and correct claims.
How to find available opportunities
Professional associations can be an excellent source of continuing education opportunities, and Jenkins recommended that billers and coders stay in contact with their relative professional associations. Memberships often include supports like webinars, conferences and local association or chapter meetings, and organizations may share information on continuing education opportunities. Here are some resources to find CEU opportunities:
- The American Medical Billing Association offers certifications, an annual conference, webinars, events and coursework for billers and coders.
- The American Academy of Professional Coders is the largest credentialing organization for medical coders and billers in the nation. Members can access training and events, a learning library, a job board, and they can apply for certifications.
- The Medical Association of Billers features numerous certifications, and members can access a job board, receive updates about medical billing issues and get discounts on training.
- The American Health Information Management Association offers certifications and education, including courses, webinars and quizzes, a medical coding hub and numerous publications.
Local schools may also offer relevant courses. “I recommend reaching out to the schools in your area,” said Jenkins. “Often, they have a certificate or a degree that can help you take your career to the next level.”
If you’re looking to start medical billing or coding education or pursue additional coursework, you can click the Find Schools button to begin exploring available medical billing and courses, and take the first—or next—step forward in your career.
