In a previous post, we discussed at-home medical coding, but that’s not the only work-from-home job available to you if you study medical billing and coding at ACHT – you can also go into at-home medical billing.
Working from home appeals to many adults, especially those with families, for a few reasons: first, if you work from home, you enjoy a more comfortable environment and no commute. Secondly, if you do have a family, working from home allows you to spend more time with them. Many people also hold part-time jobs outside of their homes and want to supplement their income by working from home. Increasingly, people seeking to work from home are pursuing at-home medical billing jobs. In this post, we’ll talk about some of the pros and cons of this career path.
At-Home Medical Billing: Pros
1. At-home medical billing will not only supplement your income – it can provide your entire income. The top 25% of medical billing professionals, according to the BLS, earn over $44,000 annually.
2. Medical billers who work from home enjoy transparent, often friendly relationships with the doctors and companies they work for. When a company allows you to work from home, it’s a sign that its leaders trust you to do your job responsibly.
3. You might be able to start your own business. Although many at-home medical billing professionals work for medical billing companies, some are freelance medical billers. If the idea of working for yourself in this way appeals to you, you might be attracted to freelance medical billing.
At-Home Medical Billing: Cons
1. Something can’t come from nothing: you need education and experience in order to get this job. Before you can start doing medical billing, you need to find a training program and gain some in-the-office experience. At ACHT, we don’t really see this as a ‘con’ – nothing worth doing is ever really easy, is it? Go to school, get the education you need, and enjoy the benefits in the future.
2. After you do get the training you need, you won’t be able to work from home right away. In at-home medical billing, there are two options: you can either work as a freelance medical biller or work from home for a company. Freelance medical billing is becoming somewhat less popular, because many physicians and healthcare organizations choose to work with billing companies instead of freelance billers. More often, medical billers who work from home actually work for medical billing companies.
How does that work? When you first start working for a medical billing company, you’ll report to the office each day. However, after a year or two of working (and showing that you’re a responsible, reliable employee), the billing company may offer you an at-home medical billing position. You’ll enjoy all the benefits that come with a position at the company, but you will work at home instead of at the office.
Not sure whether you’d like to pursue at-home medical billing? Our administrative and career services staff would be happy to discuss this career in more depth with you! Contact us today.