What Is an Online Medical Billing and Coding Program?
Comprehensive online medical billing and coding programs offer training for careers in medical billing and coding, often preparing learners for field-specific certifications.
Course materials typically include video lectures and other online training materials. Some classes run synchronously, using web conferencing to replicate the classroom experience, while others are asynchronous, allowing students to peruse materials and complete assignments at their own pace.
4 Free Medical Billing and Coding Courses Available Online
Completing a comprehensive medical billing and coding program can qualify you for a medical billing and coding career. Many comprehensive options require payment, but tuition varies by program.
In contrast, if you want to explore the basic tenets of this career path without paying the full cost of a medical billing and coding program, consider a free online course. Note, however, that these no-cost classes do not replace paid certification programs, which provide more extensive training and prepare you for professional certification exams.
Below, we explore several options for free medical billing and coding courses.
1.What is Medical Coding and Billing?
- Cost: Free
- Time to completion: One hour
- Overview of course: This course from Udemy and PPMC Academy introduces the basics of medical billing and coding, exploring topics such as diagnostic coding, procedural coding, and medical coder and biller tasks. It also covers other job duties such as processing claims and tracking and collecting payments. The free class also explains the required education and experience for medical biller and coder careers.
2.Introduction to Medical Coding Course (i2MC)
- Cost: Free
- Time to completion: Eight weeks
- Overview of course: Absolute Medical Coding Institute (AMCI) offers a free, eight-week introductory course about medical coding. The class covers coding for diagnoses and procedures, including the major coding sets for outpatient, professional and facility coding.
After completing the i2MC course, you receive a 20% tuition discount for AMCI’s full medical coding class, which helps prepare you for two field-specific certification exams.
3.Basics of Medical Billing and Coding
- Cost: Free
- Time to completion: Four to five hours
- Overview of course: This free course from Advance Learning and Alison explores classification and coding systems, electronic health records, coding techniques and practice management software.
Program training covers medical jargon and terminology, medical billing and coding procedures, legal compliance and auditing and how to work with medical insurance. The class also teaches you to identify the appropriate codes for various diagnoses, treatments and procedures.
4.Diploma in Medical Coding and Billing
- Cost: Free
- Time to completion: 15 to 20 hours
- Overview of course: This course from Advance Learning and Alison offers an overview of many aspects of medical coding and billing. Class materials explore compliance and ethics issues, field-specific terminology and different coding systems. The course also examines health insurance companies, billing fraud, reimbursement methods and proper coding practices.
Though you receive a diploma upon completing this course, this credential does not equate to a professional certification in billing or coding.