At Home Medical Billing Jobs

Working From Home

You’ve probably seen the ads for at home medical billing jobs. Can you really sit at home and make a good living as a medical biller or coder? The short answer is yes you can but it’s not as simple as some of those ads make it sound. The only way this is possible is if you have a very flexible and accommodating employer or have your own billing or coding business. If you are really good at what you do and have proven
yourself trustworthy, your boss may not care where you work – as long as you can be as productive at home as you are in the office.


In order to succeed at medical coding jobs from home, you should be result oriented and self-disciplined, able to work independently, and manage your time. You also should have the required work space or office at home, be OK with little or no social interaction, and be able to separate family and work.


Due to the nature of the work, medical billing and coding jobs from home are more feasible now than ever. Most practices billing systems are server based and accessible remotely from any PC – either via web or remote desktop. You do have to be in touch with insurance companies, patients, and healthcare providers.
However most of this can be done by phone, fax, and email. 


A lot of the medical coding and billing work I do at home can be done on any schedule as long as it's done promptly. A medical biller bears a lot of responsibility as the financial health of a practice is dependent on our performance.



Benefits
The benefits of medical billing from home and medical coding from home are the flexibility to set your own hours and the tax advantages of having a home office (consult with your accountant). It’s also nice not to have to deal with the daily commute. When working from home it’s very important to make sure your office complies with HIPAA privacy practices and all patient information is handled as such.


Disadvantages
The drawbacks are that you have to be disciplined not to let it interfere with your home life. If you don't set boundaries, work can really interfere with your home life. 


If you have employees they need to have access to your home. Depending on how your home is laid out this can be intrusive to your privacy. I employ other stay at home moms who work from their home part time as contractors. I just give them an assignment and they can perform on their own schedule. Our medical billing software allows access to our server via Remote Desktop from any other PC.


Demand may Create Flexible Work Options
According to the U. S. Department of Labor’s latest Occupational Outlook, the prospects for medical records and health information technicians (under which medical coders fall), employment is expected to increase by 18% through 2016. This means there will be a strong demand for medical coders.


For employers having difficulty attracting qualified coders, they are more likely to offer more flexibility to accommodate productive employees. One of the best benefits is remote medical coding. Larger more progressive employers typically have the information technology systems and HIPAA procedures in place to allow remote medical coding jobs.


For motivated employees, working from home results in improved morale and productivity. Offering such a benefit makes it easier to attract and retain good employees. Especially in large cities, municipalities may offer incentives for telecommuting to business to ease traffic congestion.