Home Based Business : Medical Or Legal Coding

Medical and legal coding is a process of helping doctors and attorneys to handle their documentation and reports. It is often confused with medical billing. In medical billing, you will submit claims to insurance companies or to Medicaid/Medicare. With medical and legal coding, you are helping physicians to perform their requirements for diagnosis and legal reporting. The two are quite different but both are opportunities to work from home.

To work from home, you will need to obtain a degree or some level of training. The training provides you with an understanding of how to use the required programs, how to recognize all terminology and how to work with doctors and attorneys properly. Training does not guarantee a job for you, but it can help you to get a job.

How It Works

You can work as a medical coder at home or at the doctor's offices in your area. Doctors and attorneys often send out this work rather than hiring someone to do it in house since it is less expensive to go that route. You will need to find a coding company to work through from home. Another option is to be hired by a doctor or attorney to do the work from home. In either option, you will need to local jobs in your local area or work from a larger online firm.

Potential Income

The amount of money you can earn from coding is dependent on where you work, who you work for, your location as well as your experience. Experienced coders will make more, as will those who work with multiple clients on a regular basis. Coders working full time can expect to earn $35,000 or more per year on average. Those that work from home may charge around 70 cents per code that they do.

For More Information

To get more information about medical coding, definitely talk with those in your local area first. You can also find a number of great forums and discussion boards online to help you. Below are some of the resources you may want to start with. For education, try Meditec.com and AHIMA.org. For legal coding, try UC Davis Health System. You may be able to work directly with a company online, never leaving your home.

For those with a background n any medical or legal field, this work at home business is ideal. The opportunities here are not as limited as you may think.