Medical Billing

Indigent means that a person lacks food, clothing and/or other necessities due to poverty. Many indigent people avoid receiving medical care because of the high costs and their inability to pay....

Many dental offices will not bill medical insurance companies because medical insurance policies rarely offer dental coverage. However, many medical insurance policies do offer dental coverage for...

Medical coding and billing are two separate processes that work together to ensure that a health care provider is reimbursed for services provided to a patient. Medical coding is the process of...

Health care is expensive, so expensive in that it is an expense not everyone can afford. Until then, every time you visit the hospital, the bills will continue to pile up. You could be on a...

Medical coding and billing is the process of assigning codes to patient diagnoses and procedures and then submitting them to insurance companies for reimbursement. The level of mathematical...

Coding is the process of assigning numerical codes to a patient's diagnoses and procedures for the purpose of billing. Billing is done in order for the hospital and health care providers, like...

Medical billing systems are computerized systems that allow physicians, hospital business offices or other health care providers to track charges and payments for patient care. They assist in...

Hospitals, outpatient facilities and doctors' offices can and do make mistakes. Unfortunately, chances are good you will never know unless you take it upon yourself to check medical bills for...

Current procedural terminology (CPT) is a system of assigning numerical codes to medical services, treatments and procedures for tracking and billing purposes. CPT codes are assigned and then...

A bone spur, or exostosis, is an abnormal growth on a bone. It is sometimes referred to as "hyperostosis." The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code for removal of a bone spur will depend on...

CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) coding is a process of assigning five digit numerical codes to medical procedures, treatments or services performed by physicians or health care providers....

According to a 2009 CNBC Business News Report, medical bills are claimed in over 60 percent of all bankruptcy claims in the United States, and 75 percent of the individuals who discharged medical...

Health care Spending Account or FSA are a great tool for saving money on health care costs. A major drawback of the plans is that they are a use it or lose it plan. If you don’t use the money by...

The cost of cancer can be significant. According to the National Institutes of Health, costs associated with cancer in the United States amounted to roughly $228.1 billion in 2008. Moreover,...

Medical procedure codes provide straight-cut billing methods for doctors and insurance companies. If not for these codes, every practice would have its own billing "lingo" and it would make it...

HSA accounts are health savings accounts designed to provide tax incentives to people to save for medical expenses. The HSAs are similar to IRAs except instead of savings for retirement you save...

Medical billing and reimbursement is sometimes also called medical coding and billing. This is a very profitable and growing profession.

After a patient visits the doctor, the resulting claim is likely submitted to a medical billing specialist who is charged with submitting the claim to the appropriate insurance entity. The method...

Physician billing guidelines refer to the procedures and processes in place to ensure that doctors receive payment for services rendered. Billing protocols are essential for operating the business...

When you go to the hospital to have a service provided and go home the same day, you are an outpatient. The revenue cycle process for outpatients covers the charge capture, the billing, and the...

In medical billing, an itemized bill is a full listing of all actual charges that a patient or their insurance is being billed for. Most hospitals will only send patients an itemized bill upon...

The cost of a major illness could cripple your family’s finances even if you have insurance. If you end up in an emergency room with a serious problem, you may be under pressure to put the cost on...

SSI (Supplemental Security Income) disability is a program that provides financial assistance to people with disabilities. These disabilities could include long-term medical conditions or...

According to the National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC) over a million people annually lose their homes due to medical bills. Also, more than half of all bankruptcies resulted from medical...

Medical records coders read physical medical records that contain notes by physicians and nurses, as well as patient test results. Coders convert that information into proper diagnosis and,...

Charity care is a state-mandated and state-funded program that reimburses hospitals for health coverage provided to eligible candidates who cannot afford to pay for such coverage. According to...

Health spending in 2009 is estimated to be around $2.5 trillion, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. Also, according to the Milliman Medical Index, a family of four would have an...

Training to become a medical biller can mean a lucrative change in your life. Some people, however, are not able to attend regular classes to become a medical biller. If this is your situation,...

Having the correct CPT code for a medical procedure can affect your medical bills and records as well as the practitioner's income. CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes are five-digit codes...

Anyone thinking about purchasing medical billing software is probably thinking about using it to do medical billing for physicians. One might think cost should be the primary determinant in...

Insurance claim form 1500, also known as the CMS-1500 form, is a claim form that is used by a non-institutional provider when billing Medicare and durable medical equipment regional carriers. This...

CPT stands for Current Procedural Terminology. In other words, these are medical procedure codes. They're used to indicate what types of procedures have been performed so insurance companies can...

We've all been there before. Life is going along just fine, we're keeping up with our financial obligations, and then POOF! Some sort of illness or injury strikes, we spend time at the doctor's...

Many people are grappling with financial issues because of mounting medical bills. According to a CBS News report in June 2009, 62 percent of bankruptcies filed in the U.S. resulted from...

Having health insurance coverage from a primary and secondary source can reduce or eliminate out of pocket health expenses. Health insurance providers have special rules for families with two or...

Medical coding is the process that assigns specific codes to procedures and diagnoses performed by medical professionals. These codes allow for reimbursement for services provided from insurance...

Medical coding is the system of classification that medical practitioners use to denote procedures, referrals and prescriptions. Every procedure has a unique code that distinguishes it from...

For medical billers and coders to interpret and review medical documents, patient records, assign codes, and submit claims, they need to have an understanding of the fundamentals. These involve:...

The key to understanding medical billing is to know that health care providers generally use the International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, (ICD9) and Current Procedural Terminology...

Spiriva HandiHaler is an inhaler designed for the daily treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Because such a medication is crucial for patients, the makers of Spiriva have...

The high cost of health care has made it downright impossible for most people to get proper medical care, especially when they need it most. Anyone who's gone to the emergency room, had surgery,...

The ICD-9 is the International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision, covering the years 1979 to 1998. The codes in this publication represent all diseases, conditions or circumstances known...

Ingenix began as a health care information technology (IT) company. Relatively early on the scene, the company sought to develop IT programs and procedures that would help health care insurers...

Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) classify all human diseases based on the affected organ system, surgical procedure performed on patients, morbidity and sex of the patient. Each DRG is determined...

It is easy to become qualified for a career in medical billing and coding. It's not always easy to find work for both, however. Both industries are reluctant to hire people without experience,...

There are no specific laws on medical billing and coding in the U.S. But there are laws that impact both of these areas, which makes both billing and coding one of the most regulated industries...

The background of ICD-9 codes--which stands for the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Version--was to be able to track how people died. Later on, ICD codes were used to track diseases...

Medical Billing Software programs can be expensive and cumbersome to run. If you are purchasing one for your medical practice, it can be assumed that you are doing your medical billing in-house,...

Whether you are a medical office or own a medical billing business, choosing the right medical billing software is an important decision to make. There are some questions, regardless of your...

HCPCS stands for Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. HCPCS codes are known as Level II codes, because they are additional codes created to supplement and help further define CPT-4...