Medical Billing is the Fastest Growing Opportunity in Health Care

By Swapna S
On February 16, 2006 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was finalized, and enacted. This law is designed to establish national standards for all health care transactions, and to ensure the security and privacy of all health related information. The motivation behind this law is to improve the performance, and efficiency of our health care system. This type of reform has created a need for qualified individuals who can utilize the tools of this legislation, and assure full compliance, and maximum reimbursement. It would therefore be a prudent move for health care facilities to employ such individuals in order to avoid mistakes that could have dire consequences.

The proliferation of medical knowledge following World War II brought about an explosion of diagnostic, and treatment procedures. As a result, there became a need to organize, and standardize all these developing technologies. Here is where the foundations of medical coding were born. Medical coding met these challenges, and allowed for a more uniform way of communicating health information under a common language. By January 1979, standardized definitions, and codes were adopted, and used by health care providers, and insurance companies. Since improvements and refinements of medical procedures are constantly being developed, codes must be added and updated to reflect these changes. Today, the number of medical and surgical procedures have become enormous, so too have the codes to describe them. These overwhelming numbers of codes and protocols have made outsourcing medical billing the standard.

Medical Billing and related occupations continue to be the fastest growing opportunities in health care. Insurance institutions and government agencies are investing huge resources to control claims’ fraud, abuse, and establish some degree of reimbursement parity. As a result, more insurance companies, and health care facilities are looking to medical billing experts for help. These companies and practices are looking for experienced and educated individuals; the legal consequences of incorrect billing could be devastating. There is a movement in the industry to make medical billers responsible for inaccuracies, much they way accountants are for tax returns.

At present, there are no standards for educational requirements for medical billers and coders. However, more employers are looking for some formal training at an accredited career training institution. These schools range in training time from nine months to two years, anything less would not be considered adequate. There is a move for certification, and several organizations are sponsoring certification examinations in medical billing and coding. Medical billers and coders earn as much as $8 to $10 per hour in the beginning, and could potentially realize $30 to $40 per hours with experience and additional responsibilities.Today, evolutions in the health care industry are happening at a very high pace. It is only with the assistance of sophisticated computer programs, and standardized coding procedures that medical coders are now able to describe and characterize the tremendous number and various kinds of medical and surgical procedures. These realities coupled with government regulations, and health insurance guidelines have contributed to the strong demand for experienced medical coders and billers.

This article give information about medical billing services.

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California Paralysis Lawyer, Southern California Paralysis Attorney

By Gibson Sebastian
An Auto or Motorcycle Accident can cause paralysis, which is the result that occurs when the brain or spinal cord is disconnected with the body. The resultant loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups makes it impossible to control the muscles that move that part of the body. This type of accident occurs far too often in California and in other states.
There are different levels of paralysis according to their severity. A paraplegic can no longer move his legs either partially or completely. The quadriplegic has lost the ability to move his legs and arms either partially or completely.
Common causes of paralysis, not just in California, include trauma, such as a motor vehicle accident, as well as stroke, spinal cord injury, and birth defects. Paralysis can even be caused by botulism. Spinal cord injuries in California and throughout the U.S. have affected millions of people. They can be caused not only by vehicle accidents, but also by falls, playing sports and by violence.
Paralysis can occur not only in connection with horrific auto or motorcycle accidents, bicycle or truck accidents, bus, pedestrian and airplane accidents, but even in unexpected situations such as a slip and fall that can have unforseen consequences.
When damage occurs at some point to the chain of nerve cells that run from the brain to muscle groups in the body through the spinal canal, paralysis can result. It is the loss of ability to control muscle movements that signifies paralysis.
Paralysis can be permanent in nature, or temporary, partial or complete, generalized, or localized. A person can have the side of their face paralyzed due to damage or inflamation of a facial nerve. Persons who have suffered strokes can exhibit weakness simply on one side of their body or throughout.
Paralysis is a life changing condition that places tremendous financial, emotional and physical demands on the person suffering with this condition and on those around them. The financial and emotional strain on those who suffer paralysis can itself be life threatening.
The ability to recover depends in part on the amount of damage that has been caused to the nervous system. There is hope that some day, medical research, such as that currently being pursued with stem cell replacement, will also provide a form of treatment, if not a cure. Any attorney who has represented persons suffering from paralysis hopes such advances in medical research come quickly.
If you believe there is the possibility that your paralysis, or that of a loved one, is due to the actions of another person or entity, we would encourage you to contact the Law Offices of California Auto Accident Lawyer, Southern California Paralysis Attorney

Sebastian Gibson a practicing personal injury attorney representing clients throughout Southern California Lawyer from his main offices in Rancho Mirage, California Truck Accidents, California Personal Injury Lawyers

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Legal Thriller Author Reveals Easy Ways to Spot Natural Disaster Rip-Offs 2

By: Jack Payne
A generally accepted sage-wisdom of life is: You don't want to be so intelligent that nobody can relate to you. Consequently, professionals in every field generally regard talented amateurs with respect. The top executives of NBA basketball were duly impressed with the court prowess of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James while they were still in high school. Corporations vigorously recruit computer nerds, engineers, scientists, and honor graduates of all stripes on college campuses yearly. Even the federal and state governments are constantly seeking talented amateurs from among the masses, to employ and train.

Not so in the con artists' profession. Here the sociopath professional regards the amateur with disdain, convinced he is incapable of developing any kind of workable shell game. He feels, in this field of endeavor, the amateur, not having the I.Q. of a postage stamp, would be the type who would hold up a bank with thumb and forefinger for a gun, forgetting to keep the hand in a pocket. It is therefore appalling to the professional con artist to see this army of not-ready-for-prime-time players charge forward in Louisiana with such stunning success.

Many lock-the-barn-door steps have been taken by Homeland Security since the August, 2005 hordes of amateur con artists were unleashed upon them. But sadly, an ominous, almost hysterical note of panic winds through these moves. There's a ring of resignation about them. Too patch-quilt! Too little! Too late!

The Con Man's Blog, and first two chapters of Jack Payne's legal thriller book, Six Hours Past Thursday, are now available online. Both readable for free. You are invited. www.sixhrs.com

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Legal Thriller Author Reveals Easy Ways to Spot Natural Disaster Rip-Offs1

By Jack Payne
Amateur con artists of all stripes find that conning the government is the easiest scam of all Finagle's Law of Bureaucracy: The first myth of management efficiency is that it exists, worked well for the exploiters of Hurricane Katrina.

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans in 2005, rank amateur con artists had a field day, not even needing the benefits of any particular rip-off training. Collectively they ripped about everything ripable from FEMA's pockets, including the lining. Here is just a sampling of the "enrichment activities" which took place at taxpayer expense as reported by a Senate Investigating Committee:

> An unbelievable 33% of the 2.5 million total applications for all forms of individual assistance were duplicates. That's right, nearly 1 million cases of fraud. Extraordinary.

> Government auditors, using bogus identities, false addresses, and creative disaster stories--for practice--were able to obtain their own $2,000 checks. No questions asked.

> Of 200 home addresses listed as hurricane damaged, 80--a staggering 40%--turned out to be nonexistent apartments or vacant lots.

> Twenty people used 35 bogus social security numbers to rake in more than $100,000 in payment-loot.

> Almost half of 11,000 people who were issued special debit cards good for $2,000 each as survival funds, got a second $2,000 windfall.

> More than half of a group of 250 collected using phantom social security numbers--numbers which had never been issued.

> Use of the social security numbers of dead people proliferated.

> Many cases were found of the special electronic debit cards being used to pay for jewelry, bail bond services, a .45-caliber handgun, and "adult entertainment" of some form or another. This part of the story reads more like fiction, like from a legal thriller.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, almost simultaneously with residents streaming out of New Orleans, a wave of illegal immigrants streamed in. Many of the clean-up jobs were taken by these people, no doubt extending the massive fraud, due to the known, high quantity of fake social security number use in their ranks.

End in sight? Who knows? After a 2-year struggle, the Homeland Security Dept. is still trying to get a handle on it. Being a cumbersome, lumbering government agency, one should not hold one's breath in wild-eyed anticipation Con artists are not the only ones who know that dealing with the government is like kicking a 300-pound sponge.

Oddity is, some 80 years before--in 1925--New Orleans was devastated by an almost identical hurricane-disaster. Not a penny came out of the Federal Treasury to bail the city out of that one. Nonetheless, somehow, the city got rebuilt. Obviously, with no federal bailout, no funds were available for fraud. So, the outcome was entirely different on that score too. How times have changed!

The Con Man's Blog, and first two chapters of Jack Payne's legal thriller book, Six Hours Past Thursday, are now available online. Both readable for free. You are invited. www.sixhrs.com

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