As a patient when you meet a doctor, you want him to hear clearly what exactly the problem is. Only then he could give a proper solution for it. It is possible only if the doctor is free from all his burdens. Burdens in sense, he should be free from billing you for his service and negotiating with the insurance companies.
Americans do follow the labor division rules and imposing multiple tasks to a physician is against the rules. It is for this reason they found the medical billing system. The medical billers are third persons who get the data of the patients from the doctor, produce the bill, interact with the insurance companies and remunerate the physician accordingly.
You may think why a patient can’t take the responsibility of performing all the above mentioned factors? As the patients is already ill and it is not wise to add more burden on him. Also, it makes the life so simple if someone else manages filling out forms and negotiating with insurance companies for the patient’s sake.
Medical billing has more features associated to it other than just billing. It is the billers who are responsible for analyzing the records and what are the areas that have to be improved during the entire process. The analyses made by them are quite useful during the renewal of contracts.
There are medical billers who perform the medical transcription too. In addition to that they inform the physicians and health care centers about the recent change in the fee structure and Medical coding practices.
There is no particular law that helps to work as a certified medical biller, but there is a recognized organization called The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) holds various exams like Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialist (CMRS) which can be taken by anyone. There are more details and practice tests for this exam are available on the internet.
Medical billing is obviously a complex process. But, just imagine! How effectively it reduces the burden of both the physicians and patients as the Medical billing company perform most of the interaction between the physicians and insurance companies.