Hi! New here and have a question y'all might could answer...

[Keely]

So I came across this website by chance and I thought I'd post my dilemma and see if anyone can help. I'm the office manager for a home care agency and my boss wants me to get certified in billing so I can get more hours, pay, etc and so that she doesn't have to hire anyone else and overcrowd the office. (She's kind of a stickler about professionalism and credentials and all that. I'm a Medical Assistant so I have a background with billing and coding but she won't let me do it without certification.) The thing is, obviously I wouldn't be pursuing the typical CPC or CPC-H, etc. What I think I need is the CPC-P (most of our billing is done through Medicaid) and I don't know where to get training for that! Because without training, you can't sit for the certification exam, right? And although my boss is an RN and very savvy about the healthcare industry, she can't really tell me exactly what I need to do either. My goal for the new year is to get this done but I'm so confused! Does anyone have any advice?? Thank you!

 

[Laureen]

Hi Keely!

Welcome!

The CPC-P is not a billing credential so to speak. It is designed for those working for insurance companies and health plans. Here is the link about it on the AAPC site. http://www.aapc.com/certification/cpc-p.aspx

AMBAnet.net offers a billing credential you may want to look into. Perhaps others reading this may know of other entities that certify for billing. Please come back and let us know what you find out.

Best wishes!

 

[Keely]

Thank you for the info, Laureen. I will definitely check out that website.

 

[Michele]

So I came across this website by chance and I thought I'd post my dilemma and see if anyone can help. I'm the office manager for a home care agency and my boss wants me to get certified in billing so I can get more hours, pay, etc and so that she doesn't have to hire anyone else and overcrowd the office. (She's kind of a stickler about professionalism and credentials and all that. I'm a Medical Assistant so I have a background with billing and coding but she won't let me do it without certification.) The thing is, obviously I wouldn't be pursuing the typical CPC or CPC-H, etc. What I think I need is the CPC-P (most of our billing is done through Medicaid) and I don't know where to get training for that! Because without training, you can't sit for the certification exam, right? And although my boss is an RN and very savvy about the healthcare industry, she can't really tell me exactly what I need to do either. My goal for the new year is to get this done but I'm so confused! Does anyone have any advice?? Thank you!

Hi Keely - Welcome!
From your post I see you are weighing all factors. If I can just share a recent experience I had it may help you.
I joined a study group to prepare for my CPC board exam. The group had already been meeting for a few weeks and so I didn't know much about the dynamics but I did realize that 8 people seemed to be from the same office. By the time we all met the following week I knew that there were two Doctors, two Medical Assistants, one office manager, and several members of the billing department team from the same practice preparing together for the CPC exam. What a wonderful, cohesive group! The Doctors felt that the knowledge they were gaining would help them provide the correct documentation for their staff, and they told the staff that there would be a promotion and pay raise for each employee that passed the upcoming exam, because they would be more valuable to the practice with their CPC credential and knowledge base - even though their individual scopes of work and job responsibilities were so varied; the Doctors wanted to reward the effort and time invested. Your boss seems to be telling you the same thing, (which I really admire her for) so what I'm going to suggest is that you consider getting your CPC, and then continue to make yourself even more valuable by using that as a foundation for building on your current health care career; and make your next goal learning medical billing as well!
Just a thought . . . hope I've helped.

 

[Carolyn Heath]

I checked out AMBA and I am considering getting my billing certification from them along with my CCS-P.

 

[Michele]

I checked out AMBA and I am considering getting my billing certification from them along with my CCS-P.

Hi Carolyn! I'm going to check AMBA out too. Thank you for sharing the info, Laureen! Happy Coding

 

[Carolyn Heath]

AMBA is a pretty good website. Thank you, Laureen, for sharing the AMBA website! Happy Coding!

 

[Keely]

Thanks for all y'all's advice! I've also been looking into the CMRS certification through the AMBA and I think that is probably my best bet. Coding is a whole other ballpark... The AAPC seems to be more complicated and expensive. I hope the CMRS is enough for now.

 

[Carolyn Heath]

I am a CPC-A and I am looking into getting certified through AMBA as well. I also thinking about getting certified through AHIMA as a CCS-P.