A visit to the doctor's office is more than an appointment with a doctor. Several office roles must come together to make the appointment happen smoothly and ensure that the office gets paid in a timely manner by both the patient and the insurance company. Among the roles involved is the medical insurance billing and coding professional, who verifies insurance and later updates the computer system with which services were received. This person also liaisons with the insurance company to determine what's being covered and what isn't. Insurance billing schools prepare individuals for a position in this vital role.

People who are interested in the medical insurance billing and coding field are often trained at insurance billing schools. Although in many cases only a high school diploma is required for the position, those who have a certificate or degree from an insurance billing school earn more money from the onset of their career, and tend to advance in their career faster. Insurance billing schools prepare people to handle insurance billing at clinics, hospitals, urgent care facilities, nursing homes, medical suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, and more. Students at insurance billing schools will typically take courses in basic biology, anatomy, physiology, and computer classes. Students develop knowledge about diseases and treatments as well as the skills necessary to analyze and evaluate health insurance claims. This is applied to inputting specific codes in a computer system, and also assigning patients to the appropriate diagnosis group codes, which determines how much the insurance company will reimburse.

Slow Growing, But Strong
Students completing their studies at insurance billing schools are facing a slow-growing billing field at large. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, the billing field is expected to grow by four percent between 2006 and 2016. However, the BLS says that despite the slower than average growth in the billing field (which includes industries beyond the medical realm), experts on medical billing are in demand. There will be fewer positions available at the doctor's office level and more available at billing companies which are contracted by offices to use more advanced technology to create and generate bills. The pay range for the medical insurance billing and coding profession ranges from about $21,000 on the low end to more than $40,000 on the high end, which individuals who've had more training at insurance billing schools earning more than their counterparts without specialized training. Billing clerks who work in physcians offices earn, on average, about $32,000, according to the BLS.

The classes offered in insurance billing school give students an overview of the body, its systems and how it all works together. They also offer technical knowledge on how to perform coding tasks, how to navigate software used in the billing industry and how to operate a computer. These skills can be applied in other fields after gaining experience in medical insurance billing. Individuals who have education from insurance billing schools and work experience in the industry can go on to work in accounting, human resources and other fields. If you are interested in medicine and helping others, but don't want to deal with the blood and guts, insurance billing school can prepare you for this vital role in the healthcare field.