The Certified Professional Biller & Coder program at Saint Joseph's College prepares you to thrive in the fast-paced, technology-driven healthcare field. While earning your medical billing and coding certificate here, you’ll learn how to accurately assign ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, and HCPCS codes for diagnoses, procedures, and medical services as part of the insurance reimbursement process. Upon completion of the course, you’ll be eligible to sit for your national certification exam. The certification is through the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

If you have an eye for detail and an analytical mind, you may already be well suited for a career as a Professional Biller & Coder.

If we did not have Medical Billers & Coders, our healthcare system would not be able to function properly. This is because medical billing and coding occurs every time a patient sees a healthcare provider. The healthcare provider reviews a patient’s complaint and medical history, makes an expert assessment of what’s wrong, offers treatment, and documents the visit. Specialized training is required to understand what to do next. This is where the Professional Biller & Coder comes in to review the documentation. They abstract all diagnoses, procedures, treatments, and other services to transform them into universal medical alphanumeric codes. Once those codes are determined, invoices are prepared for reimbursement claims to insurance companies or to collect payments from patients. This careful and meticulous work serves an important function in our medical system.

The day-to-day work of a medical biller and coder often includes:

• Reviewing notes from a patient’s appointment to abstract all diagnoses, procedures, treatments, and other services
• Properly transforming those services into alphanumeric codes for billing purposes
• Preparing and sending invoices or claims for payment
• Preventing fraud/abuse by performing billing audits
• Coaching healthcare providers to achieve optimal reimbursement

Certified Professional Billers & Coders have a wide range of employment opportunities. The skills learned through medical coding certification are essential to hospitals, physician offices, surgery centers, nursing homes, dental offices, home healthcare agencies, mental health facilities, insurance companies, and consulting firms. You could even work from home through some facilities!

There are many advanced certifications you can also earn to expand your professional skill set. These are often specialty medical coding certifications that help you work in a specialized field including ambulatory surgical centers, anesthesia and pain management facilities, obstetrics/gynecology offices, and pediatrics.