Medical Billing Schools

One way to obtain a comprehensive education is to attend one of the many medical billing schools that are available online. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to this type of education which this article will explain.

The obvious advantage to online medical billing schools is that you can attend classes and study in the convenience of your own home in accordance with your schedule. Most people who choose online medical billing schools have busy schedules, work full or part-time jobs, and/or have families to care for.

One disadvantage for some people, is that participating in an online class requires self discipline and internal organization. Most online schools are self paced for obvious reasons and lack the structure of on site classes. The point is, it is important to stick to the course schedules.

Most of these schools provide you with hands on training to build you billing and coding skills. Some offer training on commonly used software which, I think, is a great advantage.

One thing to keep in mind is that some of these schools can be expensive. So, just be sure to explore all your options prior to committing to online medical billing schools.

We did some research on several schools to see what kind of courses they offered, how the courses were taught, course length and their cost. The following are the medical billing schools we contacted and the answers we received to our questions:

Allied Medical Billing School

• Website: www.medicalbillingcourses.com

• Course Length: 20 hours per week, total of 385 hours finish in 2-3 months

• Self paced?: Yes

• Cost: $1,476 w/o lifetime career assistance, $2,376 with lifetime career assistance

• Software used: Medisoft demo version
• Teachers: Medical billers are academic advisors
• Degrees: Certificates only
• Certified Coder Program Yes

• Comments: I was asked to promote getting a study partner enrolled. Smooth talking salesman. Some class cirriculum information available online. Free laptop is used as an incentive to sign up.

Kaplan University

• Website: www.online.kaplanuniversity.edu
• Course length: 8-10 hours a week, 1 year long program
• Self paced? Yes, anytime 7 days a week

• Cost: $3595 for medical coding certificate (textbooks and materials not included) $3495 for medical billing certificate (textbooks and materials not included) $395 nonrefundable registration fee

• Software Used: A modified version of some software they would not specify

• Teachers: All professionals medical billers
• Degrees: Certificates only
• Certified coder program: Yes

• Comments: Called back immediately after submitting email request for information. Very helpful, somewhat pressing. They would not identify software used other than that it was very expensive. Some course detail available online.

Washington Online Learning Institute

• Website: www.woli.com

• Course length: Varies from 4 weeks to 8 months depending on course selection

• Self paced? Yes, with some restrictions

• Cost: $3900 for medical billing and coding with foundation courses, $2195 for medical billing and coding certification, $995 for health insurance and reimbursement

• Software Used: Not specified

• Teachers: All professional and credentialed in the field they teach

• Degrees: Certificates only
• Certified coder: Yes

• Comments: If the website is anything to go by, than this medical billing school is a winner. The website includes very detailed information about the courses and also includes pricing which isn't common on these sites. There are a wide variety of courses to choose from and, while study time is flexible, there are some time contraints which provide the impetus to get the coursework done.

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