Currently there is no government mandated certification in the medical billing field. Many companies and schools have taken it upon themselves to create a
set of nationally recognized exams to help determine how well qualified an individual is.

What do the exams cover?

Each exam is different but the basic goal that they all share is to measure the competency of the exam taker. Some subjects that might be covered by the exams are:

• Medical Terminology
• Anatomy and Physiology
• ICD-9-CM Coding
• CPT-4 Coding
• CMS 1500
• Insurance
• Insurance Carriers
• Acronyms
• Compliance

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but to give you an idea of what you might find during the testing. In fact there is actually a lot more material that is covered in the training to learn medical billing.

Where are the exams taken?

Medical billing certification exams are given online in many cases. Enrollment is open. College or vocational training courses will often have an exam that is nationally recognized that you can take upon completion of the course.

Medical billing is a growing rapidly and as part of the health care field is expected to outpace growth for nearly all over job markets for the foreseeable future. As the US population continues to age more and more professional medical billing personnel will be needed. This rapid growth means that sooner than later standards will be in place and certification is likely to be necessary. By requiring certification for the people who handle their billing medical centers will help to protect themselves and their staff.