Healthcare administrationcan be a fulfilling and stable professional path for new career-climbersthat are attracted to the business side of medicine – patient administration, medical coding, billing, auditing, office management, and compliance. Beyond the front desk there’s a whole team of professionals that support the clinicians by protecting patient privacy and enforcing compliance guidelines, reviewing medical documentation, processing insurance claims, billing, and posting payments. All these roles are vital to the health of a medical office and can be a pivotal step into a career in medical office administration. 

Obtaining a certification as a medical coder can be a pivotal step in accessing lucrative job opportunities and establishing yourself as a legitimate medical coding professional.

What does a medical coder do?

Before diving right into the requirements to obtaining a medical coding certification, it’s important to understand what medical coders do. Medical Coders translate healthcare visits, diagnoses, and procedures into universally standardized codes for billing and data analysis. The primary role of a medical coder is to ensure the consistency and accuracy of medical records and the reimbursement processes.

 Practice Management Institute Partners with Hendrick Health Regional Services to Bring Important Web-based Programming to 139 Affiliated Regional Practice Staff

On 2/9/2024 , Hendrick Health Regional Services will host the important Patient Collections/Accounts Receivable Management and E/M Chart Auditing for Physician Services 3-hour webinars to affiliated practice staff in Abilene and 19 West-Texas Counties.

The Patient Collections/Accounts Receivable Management course covers A/R as well as compliance and practice management efforts. Students will learn to improve insurance data collection, eligibility verification, patient communication, and to reduce payment problems that can crush the bottom-line success of the practice. In our E/M Chart Auditing for Physician Services session, participants will learn to improve knowledge of level of service audits to reduce practice risk /promote accurate claim submission. The sessions will be led by PMI faculty leader Jan Hailey MHL, CMC, CMCO, CMIS, CMOM, CMCA E/M, and moderated by Jessica Yourdon, PMI’s Social Media & Content Coordinator.

Sincere thanks to Craig Hunnicutt, Director, Regional Services, Kim Hudson, Coordinator of Provider Outreach and to Amanda Goodson, Provider Outreach, for the consistently demonstrated commitment they each have to the success of medical practices, providers, and staff served regionally by Hendrick Health. What a turnout!

Interested in a similar academic partnership with PMI?  If your organization would like more information about partnering with PMI, please contact Michael Moore at 800-259-5562, Ext. 270 or email Michael directly at mmoore@pmimd.com. 

Practice Management Institute Expands Partnership with Tyler Junior College to Bring Important Continuing Education Opportunities to Local and Regional Medical Practice Staff

PMI is pleased to announce that we are expanding our partnership with Tyler Junior College (TJC).   Working closely to offer PMI continuing educational programming covering front desk operations, patient experience, coding, billing, compliance, and reimbursement, as well as the nationally recognized PMI certifications, this new phase in our partnership will focus exclusively on the success of the local and regional healthcare industry, providers, and practice staff.

Practice Management Institute (PMI) has named Washington County Community College (WCCC) its 2023 Outstanding National Host Partner. The award, chosen nationally from among hundreds of hospital, college, medical society, physician service group and program host partners, is given to an organization who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to partnering with PMI for the purposes of advancing educational opportunities within their service area and state.

Are you struggling with employee turnover? Do you need help finding qualified applicants? Could your interview process use some refinement? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you'll be thrilled to learn that we just released a new ebook on Best Practices for Recruiting and Hiring a Great Medical Office Team, and it is sure to provide you with the information you need to advance your practice's hiring process and build your own office dream team. 

"Patient engagement," also known as "person and family engagement" is not just another healthcare buzzword. It is a highly-productive partnership that fosters a collaborative relationship built on trust, effective communication, and shared decision-making. This extension of care beyond the patient encounter has gained significant importance in recent years. 

There’s a familiar saying: Behind every good leader is a great team. One cannot work without the other. Building team trust and acceptance is a key driver of successful practice managers, says Kem Tolliver, BS, CMPE, CMC, CMOM, a revenue cycle management expert, co-author of, Revenue Cycle Management: Don’t Get Lost in the Financial Maze published by MGMA®, and business owner based in Maryland. She says that great leaders are exceptional influencers.

The front desk is your patient’s first impression, and whether it’s checking in a patient, verifying insurance, or scheduling an appointment, how things are handled can make or break a patient’s experience. Because there’s a great deal of pressure for such activities to run smoothly, medical office staff must be equipped with the right training and support to deliver exceptional service. Here are just a few tips from our CMOM course for practice managers to consider implementing at the front desk.

In a time where medical practices and hospitals continue to experience staff shortages, it is more important than ever to cultivate and embrace your team. Leading an engaged, productive, and happy team is a hallmark of a successful medical office manager. It's also one of the biggest practice management challenges. So where do you begin? Read on for some tips to lead a great medical office team.

Last November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2023 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule (MPS) and Quality Payment Program (QPP) final rule that impacts payments for physicians and other healthcare practitioners. The agency said it remains committed to promoting more meaningful participation in the Quality Payment Program for clinicians and to creating policies that continue to drive value and improved health outcomes for patients.

Pain management treatments are primarily performed by an interventional pain management specialist, physiatrist, anesthesiologist, orthopedic surgeon, or neurosurgeon, and can include physical or occupational therapy, over-the-counter or prescription medication, neurostimulators, and injections.

Putting on the dreaded collections hat is a necessary evil that every medical office can relate to. You can run a tight ship, doing your very best to collect payments at the time of service, but because of the complexities of medical billing and emergent situations, there will always be times when collecting every patient's payment is an impossibility. Documenting best strategies for more expeditious patient payment practices will help the team get it done.

The 2022 edition of the Medical Group Management Association's MGMA DataDive Cost and Revenue Report indicates the pandemic has sparked an overall downturn in healthcare productivity, increased operating costs, staffing shortages, and inflation. One positive shift noted was an increase in patient portal use. There's a lot of ground to gain in 2023. Seeking out efficiencies has never been more important. 

One of the most popular training and certification programs PMI offers is the Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM)(R). This curriculum helps office managers take charge of their practice, better manage risk, motivate employees, and improve the financial outlook in a medical office.