Top Skills Needed to Succeed in Medical Billing Classes

  What makes a good medical billing classes student? What kind of person is best suited for a career in medical billing and coding?  And what type of personality is most likely to succeed in medical billing classes online?  The logical assumptions hold up to scrutiny.  For example, the medical billing specialist must be able to handle stress well.  This profession demands long hours, often in stressful environments.  So you’ll have to be able to manage stress on the job. You’ll also need to be a compassionate person.  While the role doesn’t often require interaction with patients and their loved ones the same way that nursing assistants are required to, you still may have to interact with folks who are facing difficult health issues.  They may not be disposed to focusing on insurance billing while they or their loved one is ill.  Being compassionate helps you to help minimize the hassles for these folks at a delicate time. Patience is also a virtue in this field.  As noted, people are often not at their best when dealing with serious health concerns.  Many are frankly at their worst and may be rude, short tempered, agitated etc.  Especially when they hear that their insurance may not cover certain procedures or medications.  Patience in dealing with these folks will serve a medical billing professional well. A forum on this topic at job hunting site Indeed.com reveals that many respondents answering the question at the top of this post believe speed, accuracy and attention to detail are among the most important traits in the medical billing and coding role.  Read the entire thread of that conversation here for insights and details. Perhaps some alumnae of Allen School’s medical billing classes online could sound off on what traits they’ve found to be useful on the job in the comments below?

No Campus Housing for Medical Billing Courses Online

pastaDepending on how you look at it, taking medical billing courses online either protects a student against the injustices of campus living, or it robs a student of the formative experiences of living alone for the first time in campus housing.  In reality, the Allen School does not offer a live-on-campus experience even for the ground school courses like medical office assistant training or nursing assistant certification courses.  However, we still thought it was a nice bit of comic material to share the following slide show with you on a Monday morning. Click here for a hilarious view into experiences you may forgo by opting to study medical billing courses online.  These are some pretty resourceful hacks that college students living on campus have developed through the years to overcome challenges in cooking, personal hygiene, relaxation techniques, productivity boosts and more. Believe me when I tell you, you’re better off studying from the comfort of your own home with easy access to things dorm life cannot take for granted like: full kitchens, indoor plumbing, and more.  Happy Monday students!

Medical Office Assistant Doesn’t Make the List

medical office assistant is a best jobRenowned financial website Kiplinger’s put out its 2015 list of the “Worst Jobs for the Future” this week.  This year’s list was dominated by construction and trade jobs like woodworking machine operator, cabinet maker, drywall installer, sewing machine operator, tile setter and metal/plastic molding machine operator.  Also on the list were jobs in dying industries like travel agencies, door-to-door sales and couriers.  What was noticeably absent from this list of doomed professions was any jobs related to the medical office such as medical office assistant, medical billing and coding specialist and certified nursing assistant. Speaking of nursing, Kiplinger’s also releases at the same time, its 2015 “Best Jobs for the Future” list which was long on medical industry jobs including registered nurse, medical sonographer, health services manager, physical therapist and nurse practitioner.  What this clearly indicates is that the medical field continues to be one of the fastest growing fields in the job market today.  And wherever there are health services managers, medical sonographers, nurse practitioners, etc., there are sure to be medical office assistants, certified nurse assistants and medical billing specialists. So if you’re considering a new career path, take a look at the Allen School medical office assistant training program or any of the other courses offered and get ready to enter a field poised for ongoing growth.

Happy Labor Day Nursing Assistants Everywhere

Happy Labor Day Nursing AssistantsThere is honor in all work no matter how high minded or menial.  It is an inherently selfless act that produces the value every worker requires to feed his or her family and to provide value to the greater community at large.  Perhaps no labor is more selfless than that of those in the medical field.  Whether you’re a nursing assistant, a medical office assistant or a medical billing and coding specialist, the fruits of your labor involve the healing of the infirm and the comfort of the afflicted. So today as our nation celebrates the staggering contributions of workers throughout American history, we here at the Allen School Blog tip our Uncle Sam hats (yes, we’re all wearing big stars and stripes top hats today) to you for all that you do. Happy Labor Day to all!

Windows 10 Tips for Online Medical Coding Program Students

Windows 10 tips for Online Medical Coding programIf you’re one of the online medical coding program students who has been following our coverage of the Windows 10 roll out here on the Allen School Blog, we hope you’ve had an easy go of it upgrading your operating system to the new Windows 10.  It is truly a great operating system and will go a long way towards making your online medical coding program experience easier and more efficient.  As such, we’re happy to share these tips and tricks with you for optimizing your use of Microsoft’s latest and greatest. The following information comes courtesy of Tom McNamara of Download.com. The New Start Menu and Cortana The biggest gripe with Windows 8 (the previous generation of Windows as there was no ‘9’) was that they did away with the very familiar and useful “Start” button in favor of a mobile device-style “tile screen” which made it difficult to get to core features like the control panel and others.  Windows 10 has restored the Start button but the new start menu is a hybrid between the old Start menu and the tiled interface for a best of both worlds arrangement.  It works quite well. Cortana is the artificial intelligence “assistant” that accepts voice commands.  Thik “Siri” for your Windows machine.  You can ask Cortana questions using your voice (as long as your computer is equipped with microphone) and it will answer.  Pretty nifty. Virtual Desktops We know that online medical coding program students are busy people.  Many often maintain full time jobs and families while studying for their new career.  So their computers are frequently doing double duty – some school work and some household or job related work.  The virtual desktop feature in Windows 10 allows the user to build separate desktops.  You could build one for online medical coding course purposes and another completely separate one for other interests and then toggle seamlessly between the two depending on the tasks at hand. One Drive Formerly referred to as “SkyDrive”, this is Microsoft’s answer to the Google Drive.  It is essentially a cloud storage system where you can store files, work collaboratively with users in the cloud and basically leverage all the accessibility and convenience of cloud computing. McNamara’s post available here, has a lot more detail on these features and other exciting functionality from the new Windows 10.  Its never been a better time to study online.

Eat a Good Breakfast Before Medical Assistant Training

medical assistant training begins with a healthy breakfastTony the Tiger, the Honey Nut Bee, Bruce (Caitlyn) Jenner, Produce Pete, Count Chocula, Ronald McDonald, Dr. Oz.  These are all people (some real, some fictional) who grace our TeeVee boxes every day to tell us about the benefits of a balanced breakfast.  And while many of them are shilling for sugar-coated breakfast cereals with about as much nutritive value as a bottle of Coca Cola, the undeniable truth is, eating a truly healthy breakfast is a best practice for students.  Whether you’re taking medical assistant training courses, studying for your bar exam or any other educational activity, all studies indicate that having a good breakfast improves mental acuity and academic performance. A good breakfast should include a proper balance between lean proteins and complex carbohydrates.  It is also a great opportunity to get a couple servings of fresh fruits or veggies into your daily diet.  We know it can be difficult for the busy student/worker/parent to take the extra time needed to prepare a good morning meal.  But the benefits are truly worth the effort. Here are some links to sites with healthy, easy-to-prepare breakfast recipes to help kickstart your new daily, healthy breakfast regimen. Real Simple Womens’ Health Delish Buzzfeed Let us know of any good breakfast favorite recipes you may have by sharing them in the comments.

Deadly Heroin Additive Worsening Northeast’s Existing Epidemic

heroin addiction and nursing assistant program trainingHospitals, doctors, nurses and nursing assistants across the US, but particularly in the Northeast have been grappling with a surging epidemic of heroin overdoses in recent months. Health officials report that heroin overdose deaths in the United States nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013, driven by heroin’s more affordable cost than prescription opiate painkillers. According to a Reuters report, “the White House on Monday will announce a plan pairing law enforcement officials with public health workers in an effort to emphasize treatment rather than prosecution of addicts, the Washington Post said.” The ramifications of this new policy, focusing on treatment, will certainly be felt by those currently studying a nursing assistant program when they graduate and make their way into the healthcare workforce. The White House’s shift in policy from a punitive to a care-driven posture comports with the care-giving ethos inherent in all medical industry jobs. People, like those taking certified nursing assistant programs, who enter into this field to provide comfort and care to the afflicted, should applaud this new, more human approach to a nasty and intractable social problem. Studying to become one such care giver with the Allen School prepares a man or woman to fight the good fight against this deadly scourge.

Best Résumé for New Allen School Grads

gradFor those who decided to study medical office assistant training, certified nursing assistant training or medical billing online with the Allen School straight out of high school, landing that first job can be more difficult than landing subsequent jobs.  Just like any other career field, hiring agents typically want people with experience.  Yet, if no one gives a chance to a new graduate, no one would ever gain any experience.  So, clearly, many fresh graduates are overcoming this paradox and convincing hiring managers that they would make great employees.  So how do the successful ones accomplish this? Besides having a certification from a well-respected institution like the Allen School, having a really thoughtfully produced résumé makes a world of difference.  Yet, for those who are joining the workforce straight out of the academic world, there is very little that can be put down by way of on the job experience.  Over at the Business Insider, there is a fantastic piece called, “7 reasons this is an excellent résumé for someone just starting out” and it contains some real pearls of wisdom to help you put together the best possible résumé in spite of thin work history.  The comprehensive piece even includes a actual example to use as a template! If you’re in that group the above-linked article is a must read.  Some of the bullet-pointed nuggets of wisdom you can read about include:
  • Focusing on a clean, easy-to-read layout
  • Linking to an online professional profile (like a LinkedIn page, which as we’ve blogged about previously, one should build at the outset of their career and update regularly)
  • Clear enunciation of your career goals
  • A list of your social media skills
  • and more…
Landing that first job will fill your sails and if you work diligently, you’ll then have your first piece of hard-earned job experience in this field to inform your next résumé.  

Legionnaire’s Disease Kills 4, Infects 67 more in NYC

nursing assistant trainingHealth officials investigating the increasing numbers of Legionnaire’s disease in the South Bronx have found more than 5 cooling towers at buildings in the affected area that test positive for the pathogen that causes the disease.  Experts in the NYC metro area are saying that the public should expect the numbers of the infected to climb in the next week or so.  Teams of medical investigators are working furiously to identify the source of the outbreak so that it can be contained.  This kind of information is always of interest to Allen School students working on their nursing assistant certifications. Legionnaire’s is a type of pneumonia and is spread through breathing of contaminated air and vapor.  According to Wikipedia, “Those with Legionnaires’ disease usually have fever, chills, and a cough, which may be dry or may produce sputum. Almost all with Legionnaires’ experience fever, while approximately half have cough with sputum, and one third cough up blood or bloody sputum. Some patients also have muscle aches, headache, tiredness, loss of appetite, loss of coordination (ataxia), or diarrhea and vomiting. Up to half of those with Legionnaires’ have gastrointestinal symptoms, and almost half have neurological symptoms, including confusion and impaired cognition.” For certified nursing assistants and other medical office staff, being able to recognize the symptoms may play a positive role in helping to contain the spread of this dangerous disease.  It is also important to realize that it can take 10 days for symptoms to appear after being exposed to the pathogen.  So Allen School alums in positions at doctors’ offices and hospitals around the NY Metro area – stay vigilant!    

Study Medical Billing and Coding Online (from the beach)

medical billing classes online from the beachOne of the best things about studying medical billing and coding online with the Allen School is the unbelievable freedom that comes with it. You can pretty much take your studies with you wherever you go, as long as you have a reliable laptop and a good wireless signal.  That means, if your family is taking a trip to the beach, you needn’t necessarily stay behind to study.  Many beaches are well withing wireless broadband hot spots and you can set up in the shade of a beach umbrella and listen to the pounding of the surf as you study. (In fact we recently offered some other life hacks for studying from the seashore here.) If you opt to do this every once in a while, the following information is important.  If you use spray on sunscreens, researchers are warning that they may be dangerous.  According to a piece published by Yahoo! Beauty, the phthalates used as propellant in the spray sunscreens may be dangerous to inhale; especially for children.  Also, those sprays containing titanium dioxide should be avoided too as this compound is a known carcinogen. Dermatologists also warn about the spray sunblock, suggesting that the spray is easy to apply unevenly making it more likely you’ll be lacking coverage from damaging radiation.  An FDA spokesperson confirms the agency is currently re-evaluating these products to determine if these concerns are sufficient enough to warrant changing the approval of spray on sunscreens. So, if you’re going to take a study day at the beach (which this blogger HIGHLY recommends), perhaps play it safe and slather up with the good, old fashioned, tried-and-true sunscreen lotion.