Maine's Top Medical Billing and Coding Programs: Online & Campus
Start a thriving new career with remote working opportunities through an online medical billing coding program in Maine. Launch your career journey today.
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Imagine getting up in the morning and going to work right in the comfort of your own home. In fact, imagine choosing to work when you have the time, even if that means before the sun rises, after the kids go to bed, or while they’re at school. That’s the reality for many in the medical billing and coding field. Their work takes place from anywhere they can get an internet connection. This promising allied health career is available to you by enrolling in an online medical billing program in Maine.
Online medical billing programs in ME open a wide variety of options. You can work from home for maximum flexibility and convenience, or you can join a healthcare team and go into the office every day. The choice is yours!
The online nature of medical billing programs prepares students for the work they will do in the future, as much of it will involve using online systems. A career in medical billing and coding starts with a deep knowledge of those systems, how to move between them, how to handle coding for insurance companies, and the proper way to bill for treatments.
Finding the right online medical billing program in ME can be difficult. It involves diving into the variety of options out there and choosing the one that’s right for you. Whether that means a short-term certificate program that takes only a few months to complete or a bachelor’s degree that prepares you to move into healthcare administration, schools in Maine offer exactly what you need. The goal of this guide is to help you narrow those options and choose the one that best suits your current and future needs. Read on to learn more about standout online medical billing programs in Maine that can lead to a rewarding career in allied health.
Popular Schools: An Inside Look at Maine’s Medical Billing & Coding Programs
When you’re looking for the best possible online medical billing programs in ME, it pays to do your homework. These spotlight schools are representative of the best options out there for students in Maine. They stand out for many reasons, including reasonable tuition and fees, the time it takes to complete the program, and their online nature. And of course, they’re all accredited. Here are the best online medical billing programs in Maine.
Central Maine Community College
The program in medical coding and electronic health records from Central Maine Community College is 100% online and offers students the option of a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree. The certificate requires 28 to 30 credit hours of study, while the associate degree requires 60 to 62 credit hours.
Students who complete the program graduate with demonstrated proficiency in coding, an understanding of the rules and regulations relating to privacy, the ability to compute common healthcare statistics as it pertains to the job, and a grasp of what it takes to improve quality standards. Graduates will also have solid knowledge of the coding systems used in healthcare.
Online students in either the certificate or associate degree program receive online tutoring, advising, research help, and the opportunity for financial aid. The enrollment deadline is May 15 for an anticipated fall start date. The program follows a regular semester schedule, so accelerating your program to complete it sooner isn’t possible.
Those who complete the associate degree program will then have the option to transfer to St. Joseph’s College, which applies course credits from the associate degree to obtaining a bachelor’s degree in medical coding and electronic health records.
Northern Maine Community College
Northern Maine Community College is home to a 100% online medical coding certificate program, which prepares students to handle data entry, classification, and record keeping as it pertains to medical treatment, insurance documentation, and billing. This program was recently approved by the American Health Information Management Association professional certificate approval program, which ensures the certificate meets the standards of a high-quality education for those in the medical billing and coding field.
This fully online course takes nine months to complete. Those nine months are spread over three semesters, with the last semester spent in an internship or other hands-on work that has been approved by the school. Students will encounter a curriculum that includes not only clinical classification systems, but medical terminology, pharmacology, and anatomy and physiology.
It’s important to note that three prerequisites are required for this program: medical terminology, human biology with a laboratory component, and introduction to medical coding. These courses will prepare the student to leap right into the higher-level courses presented in the program, where they will get significant hands-on training in the coding systems that they will use in their work. A grade of at least a “C” in all major courses is required to complete the program.
Salary & Career Potential for Maine’s Medical Billing and Coding Specialists
The outlook for medical billing and coding specialists in Maine isn’t as rosy as it might be in other states, but work is still available for those who earn the credentials and are ready to either move into entry-level work or make a lateral move into another area of healthcare, billing, coding, and the like.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t provide data specifically for medical billers or medical coders. However, the organization does provide information for medical records specialists, which would include those who work in medical billing and coding.
According to the BLS, jobs in the field are expected to bring a median wage of $45,630 for medical records specialists in Maine. The best financial prospects are in the Lewiston area, where the median wage is $46,170. The lower end of the scale falls in Bangor, where the median pay is $43,080. You can look forward to a solid income once you’ve have been in the job for a while or work for an employer who pays more; the upper 90th percentile of medical records specialists in Maine makes an average of $68,640.
Projections Central offers additional information about how many jobs are out there. The growth of jobs for medical records specialists in Maine clocks in at 3.1%, which is far less than the national average of 8.5%. That means only about 40 new jobs each year through 2030, for a total of 90 job openings in the state. Some of those jobs will come from current medical records specialists who retire or move to another area where they can expand their skillset.
| Area | 10th Percentile | Median | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $35,080 | $48,780 | $77,810 |
| Maine | $37,190 | $45,630 | $68,640 |
| Bangor | $33,390 | $43,080 | $61,730 |
| Lewiston | $35,410 | $46,170 | $71,380 |
| Portland | $37,720 | $43,750 | $69,700 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023
| Area | Current Jobs | Projected Jobs | New Jobs | Job Growth | Avg. Annual Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 194,300 | 210,900 | 16,600 | 8.5% | 15,000 |
| Maine | 1,280 | 1,320 | 40 | 3.1% | 30 |
Source: Projections Central, 2020-2030
Medical Billing and Coding Specialists Careers
Billing Analyst
Billing analysts are found in hospitals, clinics, outpatient care centers, and physicians’ offices, where they work in the billing department. They are tasked with ensuring billing is correct, invoicing insurance companies and patients, double-checking codes, handling appeals, digging into the reasons why an insurance company might reject a claim or reimbursement, and ensuring the company is on track to earn the revenue they expected. A billing analyst might work with the bills, but they must have a solid knowledge of coding to spot problems in the invoices and claims.
Coding Auditor
A coding auditor has strong working knowledge of the various codes for treatments, procedures, and illnesses, and they ensure that those codes are used properly as they send out bills and reimbursement requests to insurance companies. The auditor works with a team, double-checking their work to ensure that patients aren’t overbilled and insurance companies receive the correct codes. The coding auditor’s job is to catch mistakes, make sure those mistakes are fixed, and resubmit the requests for payment. They also look for patterns of errors that might indicate team members need more support and training.
Medical Record Coordinator
A medical record coordinator works with medical records to ensure they meet the guidelines set forth by the healthcare system they work for. This can include compiling records, coordinating records across facilities, maintaining the privacy of those records, and processing the records to meet patient requests and ensure that billing is correct. Medical records coordinators must be fully knowledgeable on the legal, ethical, medical, and administrative guidelines their facilities are expected to follow and uphold them accordingly, especially in regards to privacy.
Reimbursement Specialist
Reimbursement specialists are found in many fields; in the world of allied health, they focus on managing medical records, communicating with insurance providers, working with medical billers and coders to make sure all the numbers are correct, and assisting with administrative tasks that fall within the purview of their particular assignment. Reimbursement specialists might also work on behalf of patients to get them the money they are owed from the insurance companies or from the facilities themselves.
Answering Your Pressing Questions
What is the cost of a medical billing and coding program in Maine?
The cost of your online medical billing and coding program in Maine will usually cost between $2,000 and $4,000. This typically includes instruction, materials, and a voucher for the certification test itself, which is awarded once you have satisfactorily completed the course.
However, keep in mind that the cost you will pay depends upon the institution, whether you are considered in state or out of state, the availability of financial aid, and how long it takes you to complete the course. For instance, accelerated courses are often a bit cheaper than courses of traditional length.
Most courses take less than a year to complete. If you choose to earn a degree, however, the time and cost go up. An associate degree can cost you well over $10,000, depending upon the school and the other factors listed above. If the costs aren’t clear on the program or school website, get in touch with the admissions office to figure out what you might have to pay for the program.
Keep in mind that the tuition listed on the website might not be your bottom line. Financial aid can often help reduce that number to something more affordable.
How long is a medical billing and coding program?
How much time you spend in school to get your online medical billing coding certification in ME can vary. Programs can be completed in as little as four months. Most online programs take about one year to complete, but keep in mind that this doesn’t include any additional courses – it’s just the program for medical billing and coding.
You may choose to earn an associate degree or even a bachelor’s degree that includes medical billing and coding instruction. In that case, expect an associate degree to take about two years of full-time study and the bachelor’s degree to take four years of full-time study. Taking courses part-time can allow for more flexible scheduling but can also add a year or more to the time it takes to get the degree.
What is the best online medical billing and coding program?
The best online medical billing programs in ME will be those that have earned accreditation. Accreditation means that a school or program has been thoroughly evaluated by an impartial accrediting body and found to meet the standards of a high-quality education. Accreditation can be at the programmatic level or the school level.
To find the best accredited online medical billing programs in Maine, check with the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. If you’re looking for programmatic accreditation, check out the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education or the AAPC.
If you’ll need financial aid, keep in mind that only accredited online medical billing programs in Maine make you eligible for federal financial assistance.
How hard is the medical billing and coding program?
That’s a difficult question to answer because it depends on the person. Someone who has a strong knack for numbers and a good memory will do quite well in online medical billing programs in Maine. Those who are self-starters with strong discipline, as well as those who are curious about changes and strive to stay up to date, are more likely to not only enjoy their program but also to thrive in the field after graduation.
