Online Medical Insurance Billing Courses Overview

Medical insurance billing courses are offered online for students seeking careers in the health care industry. Students in online medical insurance billing courses learn coding, billing, medical terminology, health insurance payments and medical software. These courses are typically part of certificate, diploma or degree programs.

Online Medical Insurance Billing Courses

Medical insurance billing courses are offered at many postsecondary schools as part of their online programs. Students enrolled in online medical insurance billing courses can earn diplomas, certificates or degrees, including associate's degrees in medical billing and insurance coding or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Health Information Management.
Graduates can find many career opportunities working as medical coding specialists, medical clerks or health information specialists for hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, insurance companies and other health care providers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical records and health information workers - which include medical billing and coding specialists - will see an above average increase in job opportunities through 2018 (www.bls.gov).

Online Requirements

Students taking online medical insurance billing courses need a computer with an e-mail address; high-speed Internet access is typically recommended. Most courses require medical billing and word processing software. Computers must meet certain requirements to support the learning methods used, which may vary from recorded material, group discussions and web conferencing to interactive audio and video files. Basic computer requirements typically include a recent Web browser and a recent Windows or Mac operating system.

Popular Online Medical Insurance Billing Courses

Medical Terminology in the Health Care Industry Course

Students learn the definitions of the most commonly used medical terms in the health care profession. The correlation between medical terminology and its use with medical insurance billing and coding is emphasized.

Medical Billing and Coding Course

Students get a basic understanding of computerized billing software and understand the basics of current procedural terminology (CPT) and international classification of diseases (ICD-9) codes. Other topics include medical terminology, health insurance companies, insurance procedures, billing, coding and the basics of medical office software.

Insurance and Medical Billing Procedures Course

This course teaches students about the various types of medical insurance programs found in the health care system. Students become familiar with the basic principles of medical insurance billing and using the universal claim form. Compliance and methods of reimbursement are also addressed.

Diagnosis Coding Basics Course

This course teaches students the process of indexing and classifying a diagnosis in the health care system, along with the many ways diagnosis codes are used. Students learn to report a diagnosis using the ICD-9-CM data system.

Intro to Medical Business Operations Course

Students are introduced to the essential ethical and legal issues involved in health care, as well as office administration. Topics include appointment scheduling, customer service skills, interpersonal communication and various aspects of health information systems.