Medical Billing & Coding Demystified (Paperback)

by Marilyn Burgos (Author), Donya Johnson (Author), James Keogh (Author)
Key Phrases: medical insurance specialist, medical office procedures, claims adjudication process, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, The Medical Manager (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Clueless? Feel Like a Dummy? Get Demystified!

This handy resource clearly explains the principles and practices used by medical offices, hospitals, and health facilities to encode medical services in order to receive payment from government agencies and insurance companies.

From the Back Cover
The CURE for your REIMBURSEMENT BLUES

Ever wonder how physicians and hospitals get paid? Thinking about a career as a medical insurance specialist? Find out what it takes to succeed in this challenging field -- even if you don't have formal training, unlimited time, and a genius IQ. Medical Billing and Coding Demystified offers an effective and enlightening way to learn how this complex system works.

This handy resource clearly explains the practices used by medical offices, hospitals, and healthcare facilities to encode medical services in order to receive payment from government agencies and insurance companies. You'll learn about the ethical and legal aspects of medical billing, and how to navigate insurance plans and the insurance claim cycle, including disputes. Featuring end-of-chapter quizzes and a final exam, this illuminating guide explains the complexities of medical billing and coding in no time at all.

This self-paced guide gives you:

• An easy way to understand how to code medical bills for payment
• An overview of medical billing software
• Proven strategies for finding a job in the healthcare industry
• A quiz at the end of each chapter to reinforce learning and pinpoint weaknesses
• A final exam at the end of the book
• No unnecessary technical jargon
• A time-saving approach to performing better on an exam at at work

Simple enough for a beginner, but challenging enough for an advanced student, Medical Billing and Coding Demystified is your shortcut to becoming an integral part of any healthcare team.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (November 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071472207
• ISBN-13: 978-0071472203
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,051 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #68 in	Books > Science > Medicine > Administration & Policy > Practice Management & Reimbursement
  #72 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Administration & Medicine Economics > Practice Management & Reimbursement
  #79 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Administration & Medicine Economics > Medical History & Records

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Some good info amid a lot of fluff, April 10, 2007

By	Timothy Byrne "tbyrnestl" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Perahaps 30 pages of the book have anything to do with medical billing or coding. The rest of the book presents a summary of everything from telephone etiquette to the duties of the office manager. This is really more of a sloppily written introduction to running the front end of a medical practice than it is a serious introduction to medical billing and coding. As such the book is really only of value to someone thinking of pursuing a job in medical practice management and just wants to get an idea of what it's all about. It's of little value for anyone actually trying to figure out how medical billing and coding actually works.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Poorly Edited High-Level Introduction to the Industry , September 18, 2007

By	Adam Morstad - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Medical Billing and Coding Demystified" provides a very high-level introduction to the namesake industry. I was disappointed that the first 80 pages of the book provide no information about billing nor coding, opting rather to provide a background of the entire healthcare industry that, as a whole, is only useful to the reader if he/she has never been to a doctor in the United States. Given that the book has fewer than 200 pages of informative text, I argue that the book is fundamentally mis-titled.

The book is also poorly edited, missing various commas and hyphens that would enhance readability, not to mention the authors' collective credibility. In one instance, the word "loose" is used where the word "lose" is the intention. These types of errors may seem trivial, but I prefer that my professional refrences be more polished than this one appears to be.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Full of typos but some very useful info, January 7, 2008

By	Terry "love2read" (Roseburg, OR USA) - See all my reviews

I have to agree with other reviewers who said this book was poorly edited. How this work could get past the proofreaders is beyond me! Perhaps they were in a hurry to get it published....That said, I did find this book very useful as I am considering a career in this area and really knew very little about what I'd be getting myself into. If you know a lot about the field already but want some detailed instruction on how to do coding, this book is NOT for you. After reading it, I have only a general idea of how it's done but couldn't code the common cold to save my life! However, if you're wondering what a medical biller and coder does, why this type of work is essential, and how the biller/coder fits into the big picture with insurance companies, healthcare providers, and patients, then I'd recommend this book. Even with my frustrations with all the errors, I still do not regret purchasing this book.