Alaska Medical Billing & Coding Schools and Salary Guide

Being a medical biller entails updating medical records with the use of technology and obtaining payment for medical services rendered.

Individuals in this profession may experience medium to high levels of stress due to the fact that their job and output are generally held to high standards of accuracy and the fact that their work may be subject to audits.

In addition to this, these professionals have to deal with quotas, tight deadlines, and fluctuating workloads.

5 Medical Billing & Coding Schools in Alaska

There are several schools in Alaska that offer programs for medical billing and coding.

Programs include certificate courses, associate degree courses, bachelor’s degree courses, master’s degree courses, can doctoral degree courses.

Medical billing is considered in the top three fastest-growing professions in Alaska.

In addition, all students must meet criminal background check requirements, in order to be able to work in the healthcare industry.

Alaska Career College

Alaska Career College is situated in Anchorage, Alaska.

It is a relatively small school with a student population of around 500 students.

The school has been accredited since 1987 and offers an undergraduate certificate course in this field which can be completed over a ten and a half month period.

Online and evening classes are available.

The course fee is $12,429 provided that the course is completed within the stipulated time period.

Students that graduate from this school are considered to be Nationally Certified Insurance & Coding Specialists (NCICS) as well as Certified Professional Coders (CPC).

Ilisagvik College

This school is located in Barrow, Alaska.

The school has been accredited since 2002 and offers a two-year associate’s degree in medical billing and coding.

It is also a relatively small school with a student population of just under 900 students.

As of the date of writing this article school tuition was $3,340 for in-state students as well as out-of-state students.

In addition, the school collaborates with the Arctic Slope Native Association as well as the North Slope Borough to offer internships for students.

These internships help students gain valuable experience in the field of medical billing and coding.

University of Alaska Anchorage

The University of Alaska is situated in Anchorage Alaska.

This is a fairly big school with a student population of around 28 000.

The school offers a variety of programs in medical billing and coding including a certificate program, an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a doctoral degree.

This school has been accredited since 1971 and in-state students can expect to pay $5,494 while out-of-state students will pay $16,466.

The program is modeled around the recommendations of the American Academy of Professional coders (AAPC) and prepares students to work as medical office coders.

Qualified students then proceed on to a career as a medical coder situated in outpatient settings or medical offices.

Certifications include Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification for physician office coding and Certified Professional Coder-Hospital (CPC-H) for hospital coding.

Students are required to sit for the AAPC’s Certified Professional Coder (CPC) examination after completion of the course which qualifies the students as medical coders.

University of Alaska Fairbanks

As the name suggests, this school is located in Fairbanks, Alaska.

This is also a fairly large school with a student population of around 15 000 students.

The school offers a two-year associate’s degree, four-year bachelor’s degree program, a master’s degree program, as well as a doctoral degree program in medical billing and coding.

The school has been accredited since 1934.

In-state students can expect to pay $5,246  while out-of-state students can expect to pay $16,238.

Students have the opportunity to study abroad and have those credits count toward their final credit count.

In addition, internships are available to help students gain valuable and insightful experience in the field of medical billing and coding specialists.

Ohana Coding School

Ohana Medical Coding offers a certificate course in medical billing and coding.

The course runs over a 12 week period and is offered strictly over Zoom video calls which means that this course is entirely online.

Students can attend classes from anywhere in the country.

The Zoom classes are recorded and students can download and attend a pre-recorded class at any time as well.

The course includes 12 intense Certified Professional Coder (CPC) training materials and prepares students to sit and take the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) exam.

Students can expect to cover a variety of topics and projects in class including live coding scenarios, individual and group exercises, as well as techniques for mastering the final exam.

The course fee is $1,495 when paid upfront and payment plans are available which include three payments of $525.

In addition, the school offers excellent online support to students with regard to any queries the students may have.

Billing and Coding Schools in Alaska – Summary Table

Salary

Students who enter this field can expect a starting salary of around $38,165.

The mid-range salary for this position hovers around $51,111.

Professionals with substantial experience may expect to earn $67,968 on the high end.

Regional Salary in Alaska