The March of Progress in Medicine

1800s-surgeryStudents of Allen School Online ought to be very proud of themselves for being at the forefront of change in the medical industry.  The next decade will usher in radical changes in the way medical billing and coding are performed.  The inevitable transition from paper-based procedures to electronic medical filing will allow you to be one of those who “remembers the old way we used to do this”. The advancement of human understanding in all areas, from agriculture to energy to communications to medical science, has been in an acclerating loop for the last 500 years.  The pace of progress seems to double and redouble.  Its hard to believe that less than 100 years ago, there was no air travel, no global telecommunications (heck, not even local telecommunications), and the cutting edge of surgical medicine (no pun intended) looks like something from a horror film.  Have a look at this fantastic posting about 1800’s era surgical tools that appeared on one of my favorite blogs, boingboing.net, “A Directory of  Wonderful Things”. http://boingboing.net/2009/05/20/1800s-surgical-kit-u.html The skills you’re mastering today will prepare you to take the quantum step forward into the electronic future of medical billing and coding.

5 Responses to “The March of Progress in Medicine”

  1. Rose Ribboni

    Yes, just like a horror movie – those tools from the 1800’s – unspeakable agony – opthalmological, dental, urinary matters – barbaric! So, as students of medical billing and coding, we are like pioneers – or space travelers – entering an entirely new frontier – and, in 100 years, all of what we consider “cutting edge” technology will be as antiquated – but, certainly not as painful to the physical body – as these. Love this post! Fascinating.

  2. Ruth Coxum-Osuji

    Throughout the MIBC program, I was surprised to learn how important medical coding is when it comes to keeping the human body in its best of health. If one digit in a code is off it could actually cause non-payment to a provider, insurances or death of a patient.

    Thanks, Ruth

    • Brenda Moore

      I have to say that I never knew the importance of coding and how it affects the riembursements for healthcare. The Allen School’s classes in coding and billing have taught me so many things about the different methods of reimbursement and what each third party payers regulations consit of. I was a little overwhelmed in the beginning and now I am getting a much better understanding of the entire process of coding and billing.

  3. Terra Songy

    I too was ignorant to the complexity of medical billing and coding until this course! It is mind boggling to think about how much information we have learned, and even more so, how much is left to learn. Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to touch what I was feeling when we first began the course, and now some of it is almost like second nature. I believe that continuing my education is key to my success, but I am overjoyed that I began my HIT education here at Allen School Online

  4. Chelsea Brauer

    I agree that within the next decade the switch from paper based to electronic health records is highly likely. It can be a slow transition for many health care facilities, but well worth it. Coming out of an online program I feel that much more confident about working with electronic health records, I have really touched up on my typing skills these past 9 months! The statistics say that the demand for coders will increase dramatically by 2014, but just as new health care procedures and diagnoses arise, so does the need for more coders and billers! This is a very fast pace field and it is growing at a rapid rate, which is good news for us!

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