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Medical Insurance Technician Certificate: Program Summary

By enrolling in a Medical Insurance Technician Certificate program, students will become familiar with the basics of medical coding, medical terminology, and the process of claims management. Though a critical part of the healthcare industry, medical insurance technicians have little direct contact with patients.
Coursework

Some of the courses that may be found offered within a Medical Insurance Technician Certificate program include:

* Anatomy
* General Coding: ICD-9 and CPT
* Computer Science/General Computer Applications
* Medical Terminology
* Physiology
* Statistics

Skills Acquired

Medical insurance technicians or medical billing technicians need to have accurate math and analytical skills with the ability to pay great attention to detail. Medical insurance technicians can also serve as verifiers of insurance claims, collectors, and payment schedulers, so it is important to keep up on current trends and changes in the industry as well as take advantage of additional learning and training opportunities.
Job Opportunities

Graduates of a Medical Insurance Technician Certificate program can be found working in some of the following facilities:

* Hospitals
* Nursing Homes
* Clinics and Physician Offices

Salary Information

As posted in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, www.bls.gov, medical insurance technicians earned an average salary of $25,590 in 2004 with the highest salaries coming from those who were employed in general medical and surgical hospitals. The highest 10 percent of these workers earned over $41,760.
Career Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, the career outlook for medical insurance technicians is good with employment expected to increase over the next decade much faster than average. MITs with an associate’s degree and a strong medical coding background will be particularly in high demand.