Electronic Health Records and Reimbursement Specialist - Overview:

This career choice is ideal for the individual who wants to focus their work efforts in the back office while having limited contact with patients. This involves entering necessary data for processing insurance claims for reimbursement, following up on rejected claims, posting insurance payments, sending patient statements and handling patient billing inquiries and preparation of monthly reports.

Program Duration: 6 Months

Each time you or anyone in your family visits a doctor, hospital, or health specialist, a record of that visit is documented and maintained. These visits including any additional testing or services provided to the patient have to be billed for reimbursement. Lab tests, prescriptions, and trips to the emergency room are all a part of an individual's health record. Information regarding these visits, services and testing including the reason will be extracted from the medical record to build the claim. Within the allied healthcare system, employees are expected to know how to input and retrieve information from an electronic health record.

It is extremely important that the health record be accurate for patient safety and reimbursement of services. In recent years, there have been significant advancements in technology related to maintaining electronic records, along with a sharp increase in the ease of use of such systems. This information is gathered from multiple locations, yet able to be electronically accessed from one virtual place. The technology that intertwines health information from a variety of sources is known as an Electronic Health Record, or EHR. An electronic health record is a computerized lifelong health care record with data from multiple sources.

This surge had meant an increase in opportunities in this field, as well as a pattern of growth that will continue to develop over the next several decades. Offices and facilities financial stability depends on accurate and complete claim submission to third parties for reimbursement costs. Some of the new positions that have been born out of this growth include: medical claims specialist, insurance reimbursement specialist, claims adjuster, insurance billing specialist, claims auditor, clinical analyst, health information technician, and records and information coordinator.

As with many other fields, individuals with certification generally have an easier time finding employment. They typically earn higher salaries and indicate that the individual has met standards of the certifying institution.

Positions Attainable upon Program Completion:

Training Program Overview

Our online video training program not only prepares you for a rewarding career, it validates your knowledge through national industry certification. The Electronic Health Records and Reimbursement Specialist program prepares you for proper handling of patient data, fundamental records and document management, medical office procedures and more.

Program concepts include:

Our certified instructors deliver comprehensive video based training, allowing each student the ability to move through the training at their own pace at work, at home, or on the road. There is no more waiting for a course to be scheduled in the classroom or changing your schedule because of cancelled classes.

Our easy to use web based video training (Launch Demo) provides a hands-on, self-paced delivery of course content and grants you the ability to monitor your progress throughout your training.

Let our expert instructors assist you in developing the skill set you need for a productive job in the medical field. MyCareerSkill will provide you with an effective training program to launch your new career in Health Care.

Certifications Targeted:

Value of Certification

Our comprehensive Medical Front Office and Electronic Health Records program prepares you for the CEHRS, CBCS, and Microsoft Office Word/Excel certification exams. The Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) and the Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) are nationally recognized certifications from the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). The Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) is a globally recognized Microsoft certification.

By attaining these certifications, you validate your competency and reliability in the field, and you will be recognized as a Nationally Certified Allied Healthcare professional. The majority of hospitals, private practices and organizations require National Certification as a competency standard. Additionally, by obtaining certification you will obtain a higher level of marketability to potential employers. Employers will have confidence in your proven skill set for job placement!

The Benefits of Certification

What are the National Healthcareers Association's requirements to take the NHA National Certification Exams?

The Student must meet one of the following criteria:

The Student must be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma, or equivalency, as well as one of the following:

1. Must have successfully completed an accredited or approved training program within the last year.

OR

2. Must have worked within the past year in the field of certification for a minimum of one year.

Program Includes:

The following is a breakdown of the courses included in the program: (Click for Description)

Career Outlook:

Employment is expected to grow much faster than the average. Job prospects should be very good; technicians with a strong understanding of technology and computer software will be in particularly high demand.

Employment change. Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 20 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations through 2018. Employment growth will result from the increase in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that will be performed. As the population continues to age, the occurrence of health-related problems will increase. Cancer registrars should experience job growth as the incidence of cancer increases from an aging population.

In addition, with the increasing use of electronic health records, more technicians will be needed to complete the new responsibilities associated with electronic data management.

Job prospects. Job prospects should be very good. In addition to job growth, numerous openings will result from the need to replace medical record and health information technicians who retire or leave the occupation permanently. Technicians that demonstrate a strong understanding of technology and computer software will be in particularly high demand.

Occupation Description

A Reimbursement Specialist and EHR Specialist's duties will vary with size and specialty of the facility in which they may work. Many can specialize in varying areas or one aspect of the EHR such as entry level coders, encoding within a hospital setting, abstractors and/or coding specialists, HIPAA Compliance Officers or HIM (Health Information Managers) and be over entire departments within larger healthcare facilities. The duties an Electronic Health Records Specialist and/or Reimbursement Specialist may perform include, but not necessarily be limited to:

• 1. Assemble patient's health information to ensure information is complete and accurate.


• 2. Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures and treatment into computer.


• 3. Statistical and Data Analysis for Quality Improvement Measures.


• 4. Assist with special studies and research for public health agencies.


• 5. Compile medical care and census data for statistical reports on diseases treated, surgery performed, and use of hospital beds for clinical audits.


• 6. Manage data backup, retention of records as well as maintain a variety of health record indexes, storage and retrieval systems.


• 7. Work National Database Registries as a registrar, contacts discharged patients, their families, and physicians to maintain registry with follow-up information, such as quality of life and length of survival of cancer patients.


• 8. Work with department managers to review policies and develops new workflows for EHR, coordinates training resources and provides on-going end-user training.


• 9. Assist with the daily operations of the office. Duties may include answering the phone, inputting notes from patient's charts, scheduling appointments and general reception area duties.


• 10. Submit claims to insurance companies for reimbursement of services.


• 11. Process insurance rejections and post payments.


• 12. Audits and analyzes underpayments and overpayments from insurance companies.


• 13. Verifies payment accuracy based on contracts with managed care payors and prospective payment rates.


• 14. Preparation of monthly reports.


• 15. Handle patient and third party billing inquiries.