Medical billing specialists are responsible for organizing and maintaining patient health information in both electronic and hard copies. They learn and use a variety of coding systems to sort and maintain patient medical data and history of treatment for various uses such as insurance reimbursement and inclusion in databases and registries.
When creating your medical billing specialist job description, you may want to stress the need for accuracy in this position. Coding must be exact for billing and classification systems, and even small errors can cause big problems.
Billing specialists ensure health information is accessible but also secure from unnecessary access. To get a deeper understanding of the responsibilities of this role, examine the medical billing specialist job description template below.
Medical Billing Specialist Job Summary
We are seeking a billing specialist with a head for figures and a heart for helping others. Everyone on our office team has a role to play in providing great customer service for a broad cross-section of clients, so you will get to use your excellent communication and interpersonal skills, as well as accuracy in this demanding role. We want you to succeed and provide you all the support you need, along with plenty of learning opportunities, such as seminars and workshops, so you can grow in your job and your career. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package that includes full medical and dental coverage. Best of all, you’ll have the chance to leave every day knowing you’ve helped others as part of a caring staff.
Job Responsibilities
- Establish and maintain security of medical records to ensure patient confidentiality on an ongoing basis
- Review patient records on a daily basis for accuracy, supply any missing information and ensure compliance with company policy and government regulations
- Balance accounts daily, prepare financial balance sheets and submit to finance director
- Generate revenue by working with patients to establish payment schedules for late accounts, following up with them as needed for continued late payments
- Evaluate and select collection agencies for use in recovering delinquent accounts, determine appropriateness of suing patients and testify for medical office in court cases
- Ensure office staff members are properly collecting co-pays and payment balances by auditing financial records of patients prior to each visit, and compile and maintain monthly bad-debt cost report for Medicare
- Access patient records as needed for review by physicians, technicians and other medical staff members
- Follow professional standards and meet requirements of local, state and federal regulations
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Medical billing and coding certification
- Accuracy and attention to detail
- Classification software (3M Encoder and AMA CodeManager)
- Database and query software (EndoSoft, encoded archival system EAD and data entry)
- Document management software (Laserfiche, SoftMed ChartLocater and IDX)
- Medical software (Allscripts HER, Amazing Charts and ComChart EMR)
Preferred
- Voice recognition and dictation software
- Communication and interpersonal skills
Medical Billing Specialist Job Responsibilities
Billing statements can look like Greek to the uninformed eye, but your medical billing specialist job description doesn’t have to. If you aren’t getting the desired results in your recruitment efforts, it’s likely you need to rethink how you approach writing an effective job advertisement.
Start by looking at the kind of language you use. Are you writing in passive voice? Passive voice involves lifeless descriptions and passive verbs, often using some form of “is,” “was” or “to be.” Instead of using this style of writing, begin your sentences with action verbs. Action verbs are exactly what they sound like; they’re verbs with momentum that describe the job in a way that directly involves the reader, allowing them to see themselves in the role.
Now look at the length of your medical billing specialist job description. If it prints on more than one page, it’s too long. Don’t be afraid to leave a little information on the cutting room floor, and instead focus on what’s necessary to give candidates a broad scope of the role. Keep the job responsibilities section to 8-10 succinct bullet points that focus on quality over quantity.
Take, for example, these common medical billing specialist job responsibilities:
- Track and maintain records of patient billing and billable items
- Prepare and submit billings to insurance companies or other payers
- Follow up on delinquent claims and past due invoices
- Manage Medicare and Medicaid claims
- Promote a focus on continuous improvement for all medical billing procedures
Medical Billing Specialist Job Specifications
A good medical billing specialist job description starts with a concise outline of the responsibilities the successful candidate is accountable for before expanding into a list of necessary job qualifications and skills. This list should only be 5-6 bullets long, but despite its brevity it’s this list of requirements that allows a job description to function effectively.
Why? Because this list tells jobseekers the criteria they have to meet before consideration. If you’ve ever posted a job advertisement and immediately received thousands of applications with only one or two qualified applicants, you know the frustration of screening them for a match. Why not let candidates screen themselves and do the work for you? Include a job qualifications and skills section in your medical billing specialist job description and reduce the number of unnecessary applications from jobseekers who take themselves out of the running by checking against this list.
Here’s a sample of medical billing specialist job specifications:
- High school diploma required with accreditation from recognized medical billing institute
- 5 or more years of experience in a hospital environment
- Accurate 10-key typing skills
- Knowledge of medical billing systems and electronic patient records
- Ability to work well in a fast-paced team environment