By: Paige Cerulli
Professional insights: Loetta Edwards
Medical billers and coders are essential to the healthcare industry. These talented professionals are responsible for patient record accuracy, submitting insurance claims, monitoring payments and more. While education and coursework can provide students with a valuable foundation, successful medical billers and coders also need certain key soft skills and habits, and those can take more time to develop.
Essential soft skills for medical billers and coders
Soft skills, which are traits and skills that affect how you interact with other people, play an important role in the workplace. To be successful in their careers, medical billers and coders should cultivate certain key soft skills. Here are some traits and attributes professional billers and coders should strive to attain:
Communication skills
Loetta Edwards, a medical billing and coding instructor at the Fairfax County Public Schools Adult and Community Education program, also serves as a medical billing and coding instructor at the Academy of Hope in Washington D.C. Edwards explains that communication skills are key for medical billers and coders. “Communicating with patients, staff and executives is part of the job and many are afraid of—or not comfortable with—talking to others,” says Edwards.
Medical billers and coders need to be comfortable communicating in several ways. Face-to-face communication as well as communication over the phone are daily elements of the job. Additionally, clear written communication skills are essential, including through email, so spelling and grammar should be part of the communication skills package.
Interpersonal skills
In addition to communication skills, interpersonal skills are important in medical billing and coding. Billers and coders need to be able to build rapport with other team members, insurance providers and patients. Building a positive relationship with these individuals can help facilitate effective teamwork and collaboration, and billers and coders need to be able to listen, empathize and engage with others.
Interpersonal skills also contribute to a professional’s customer service talents. The ability to hold difficult conversations, interact calmly with upset patients and build patient trust are all critical components to creating an ideal customer experience.
Problem-solving skills
Strong problem-solving skills are essential for medical billers and coders. Billers and coders may need to analyze problems, identify the cause and propose effective solutions. Creativity can also be a valuable asset when it comes to problem-solving.
Time management skills
Medical billers and coders must effectively juggle many responsibilities, and they may be faced with changing deadlines and priorities. Strong time management skills are key to success in this environment, and professionals must be able to adapt and quickly change their focus and move back and forth between different responsibilities and tasks.
A strong understanding of how to effectively manage time can help boost productivity, so professionals stand out for the right reasons. They need to understand how to prioritize their work, but also need the flexibility to be able to respond to changes in the work environment. Since billers and coders spend part of their time working independently, they need to be focused and motivated enough to effectively manage their time to avoid missing deadlines.
Organizational skills
Strong organizational skills help ensure that the billing and coding office runs smoothly. Medical billers and coders need to organize and manage multiple tasks and deadlines, and they also need to be able to keep detailed records and notes. Professionals who have an understanding of their own organizational habits and weaknesses may excel, since they can identify ways to maximize organization so tasks aren’t overlooked. Being willing to use organizational tools, such as digital calendars, is also helpful.
Self-motivation
While medical billers and coders are part of a team and must maintain close working relationships with others, they also need to be able to work independently. A strong sense of self-motivation will help medical billers and coders stay on task and succeed in the workplace.
Patience
A career as a medical biller and coder can be trying, so patience is a key soft skill to have. Billers and coders may need to navigate sensitive situations, work with frustrated patients and have difficult conversations with insurance companies. It’s important that they can stay calm and focused during stressful and challenging situations.
Stress management and self-care
In addition to patience, stress management is also important for billers and coders. This career can be stressful, especially given how important it is to ensure that work is completed promptly and accurately. Medical billers and coders who understand the importance of stress management and who practice self-care to help relieve stress are more likely to succeed in this field long-term. Effectively managing stress can allow professionals to be more focused on their work, and it can also contribute to their relationships and interactions with others.
Helpful habits for medical billers and coders
In addition to soft skills, there are certain habits that are helpful for medical billers and coders to learn or adopt. These habits may contribute to their lifelong success in the field.
Continuous learning and listening
Edwards explains that a willingness to continuously learn and listen may help medical billers and coders be successful in their career. “Take any courses that are available for free or at a cost,” she recommended. “What made me successful was learning every position in my working environment. This gave me a great understanding for the whole picture, from start to finish.” Students who are driven to learn are more likely to enjoy successful carers and to qualify for professional advancement opportunities.
Practice of double checking your work
Errors in medical billing and coding can result in financial losses and inaccurate patient charts—and ICD codes can be complicated and near-redundant at time. Since errors can be costly, successful medical billers and coders should get in the habit of double-checking their work before submitting it. Taking a few minutes to go over a claim before submitting it means professionals can identify and correct errors in advance, saving time correcting issues later on and streamlining the claims cycle.
Become dependable and reliable
Making a practice of being dependable and reliable will help medical billers and coders stand out, and it will make them a valuable addition to their team. Once they’ve demonstrated that they can be counted on, medical billers and coders may be more likely to be given additional responsibilities and foster room for advancement in their career.
Willingness to develop key skills
Successful medical billing and coding students and professionals need to be aware of and willing to develop any key skills they may not yet possess. For example, Edwards stressed the importance of computer and Microsoft skills. “I notice most schools or programs do not teach Excel, or how to do pivot tables or V-look up,” she said, “though these skills are needed in revenue cycle careers.”
“Many companies do not offer on-the-job training,” Edwards added, and notes that she’s had students who didn’t know how to open their emails or how to use Microsoft Word.
If an education doesn’t include all key skills necessary for this career, students and professionals will need the motivation to go out and develop those skills on their own. Doing so will leave them better prepared for the demands of a medical billing and coding career.
Challenges in the medical billing and coding field
According to Edwards, there are some common challenges in the medical billing and coding field that students should be prepared for. She explained that it’s easy to become stagnant in your career, but there are also plenty of opportunities for advancements for individuals willing to seek them out. “This professional has many areas you can work in, and by expanding your knowledge you can become valuable to companies,” she said.
Edwards notes that some facilities may not offer such growth opportunities, which can cause billers and coders to remain at the same pay rate. To advance your career, you may need to be strategic about which opportunities you accept, and may need to make the difficult decision to seek out new opportunities in facilities with more growth options. “Being proactive by continuously learning and obtaining professional certification is key to growing in your career,” she said.
The importance of continuing education in medical billing and coding
As students develop their soft skills and habits, it’s equally important to seek out continuing education opportunities. Edwards recommended that students become a member of the American Health Information Management Association or the American Academy of Professional Coders and take any exams that the organizations offer. “This is a way to stay relevant and educated,” she said. She explains that coders can take revenue cycle courses and exams, as well as compliance courses. Completing these courses can make professionals more versatile, so they can pivot and change their careers if they need to. Continuing education may also prepare billers and coders for changes in the field as AI and other technologies advance how professionals do their jobs and perform the duties required of them.
