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Medical Billing and Coding Education
By Ashley Boyce, allied health world staff writer
Published: January 13th, 2010
What is the importance of patient confidentiality?
The first thing you can expect to explore while engaged in your medical billing education is the importance of patient confidentiality. This is also a focus of medical coding education programs, but because of the implications for insurance company liability, it tends to get a greater level of attention in medical billing education programs. Respecting a patient’s confidentiality regarding medical histories and treatments is one of the most import aspects of medical coding and billing work.
These medical professionals have a unique level of access to very private medical information. They are held to the same ethical standard as MDs or other medical professionals when it comes to maintaining patient confidentiality. Billing and coding specialists must have the integrity to maintain the confidentiality of patient medical histories. The issue of patient privacy is so important that congress enacted The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996 to establish national standards for how patient health records are electronically stored and transmitted.
Learn more about the medical billing and coding degrees.
What is cancer registry?
Cancer registry is a fast growing specialized form of medical coding. This is a specialized endorsement certificate available 
through supplemental medial coding education programs. Cancer registrars are responsible for maintaining data bases on cancer patients. Depending on what institution the registrar is working for, these may be facility specific, regional, or even national databases. The databases are maintained to consolidate patient records and pathology reports to track the diagnosis and treatment of different cancers.
Cancer registrars often work for research departments in public health organizations. The findings are used to determine survival rates, efficacy of treatment, and geographic locations with particularly high rates of certain cancers. This allows public health officials to identify those patients who may be helpful in clinical drug trials, while targeting certain areas for screening and prevention programs. Becoming a certified cancer registrar requires completion of either a full-length or accelerated intensive medical billing and coding certification program recognized by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA).