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What does a senior billing specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A senior billing specialist processes and manages the billing systems of their company. They are in charge of processing necessary payments to clients and business partners and generating and providing invoices. They keep a record of all payment information. They also manage payment due dates and remind clients of the payment deadlines.

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Senior billing specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior billing specialist resumes:

  • Manage temporary and internship staff on Medicaid posting project.
  • Revamp updating process for ICD-9 codes to ensure that federal/state changes.
  • Code all claims interpret in EOMB's from Medicare & EOB from insurance companies.
  • Resolve incorrect insurance payments, EOB denials, and any issues with outstanding accounts.
  • Review outpatient medical records for abstraction of billable physician services and conversion of those services into CPT codes.
  • Process claims reviewing ICD9-10 and CPT codes on to ensure correct submission on HCFA and UB92 claim forms.
  • Maintain company and customer confidentiality per HIPAA compliance.
  • Verify Medicaid/Medicare eligibility utilizing various applications and register patients in the system.
  • Conduct monthly billing, reconciliations, and internal audits to identify discrepancies.
  • Assign appropriate medical coding to accurately report the ambulance services provide to patients.
  • Provide management and staff with problem resolution and new accounting procedures with Medicare and Medicaid receivables.
  • Provide client specific reports to management: income statements, revenue forecasts, profitability reports and general ledger reconciliations.
  • Evaluate medical coverage policies, maintain patient financial records and develop strategies to optimize reimbursement through follow-up and claim appeals.
  • Review customer s statements, including taxation, billing and statement presentations before production and bill mail to customer home.
  • Investigate erroneous and inconsistent EDI.

Senior billing specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 12% of Senior Billing Specialists are proficient in Patients, CPT, and Billing Issues. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Math skills, and Organizational skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Billing Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 12%

    Assign appropriate medical coding to accurately report the ambulance services provided to patients.

  • CPT, 5%

    Filed UB04 and HCFA 1500 insurance claims - Knowledge of CPT coding for mental illness, modifiers and ICD-9 and ICD-10.

  • Billing Issues, 5%

    Analyzed systems, initiated development, and partnered with external organization to expedite resolution of billing issues.

  • Billing System, 5%

    Processed complex invoices for Government and Commercial Clients using either the client's billing system or JD Edwards Business System.

  • Data Entry, 5%

    Processed new and existing customer accounts including data entry.

  • Billing Process, 5%

    Participate in discussions to identify billing process improvement and support company initiatives and financial decisions.

Most senior billing specialists use their skills in "patients," "cpt," and "billing issues" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior billing specialist responsibilities here:

Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior billing specialist to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "financial clerks should be able to explain policies and procedures to colleagues and customers." Additionally, a senior billing specialist resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "maintain communication with secretaries and or partners regarding manual billing, electronic billing, and unapplied cash. "

Math skills. Many senior billing specialist duties rely on math skills. "the job duties of financial clerks includes calculating charges and updating financial records.," so a senior billing specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior billing specialist responsibilities rely on math skills: "created reports and analyzed billing statistics for 11 billing cycles. "

Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior billing specialists is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior billing specialist duties, as "financial clerks must be able to arrange files so they can find them quickly and efficiently." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "received merit based promotion from billing specialist through exemplification of strong leadership, organizational and process improvement skills. "

See the full list of senior billing specialist skills

Choose from 10+ customizable senior billing specialist resume templates

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Senior Billing Specialist Resume
Senior Billing Specialist Resume
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Compare different senior billing specialists

Senior billing specialist vs. Biller

Billers are medical professionals who are responsible for translating health care services into medical claims to be submitted to insurance companies. These billers are required to obtain patient medical records and interpret them to determine the billable units and services. They must manage all aspects of the medical billing process and make necessary contacts with insurance payers or patients to ensure maximum reimbursements. Billers must also provide services that are associated with internal and external customer billing and payment processing operations.

If we compare the average senior billing specialist annual salary with that of a biller, we find that billers typically earn a $13,922 lower salary than senior billing specialists make annually.Even though senior billing specialists and billers are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require patients, cpt, and billing issues in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior billing specialist are more likely to require skills like "financial reports," "deltek costpoint," "revenue recognition," and "client billing." On the other hand, a job as a biller requires skills like "math," "home health," "icd-10," and "dmv." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Billers earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $42,377. On the other hand, senior billing specialists are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $64,965.On average, billers reach similar levels of education than senior billing specialists. Billers are 4.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior billing specialist vs. Collections coordinator

Usually working alongside a company's account receivables team, a collections coordinator is in charge of developing strategies to optimize the payment collection operations. Among their responsibilities include reaching out to clients through calls or correspondence to remind them of their payment obligations, arranging appointments, processing payments, arranging payment terms, and researching a client's communication information such as cellphone number, address, or email. Moreover, a collections coordinator must maintain an active communication line with staff while promoting and enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

Collections coordinator positions earn lower pay than senior billing specialist roles. They earn a $14,317 lower salary than senior billing specialists per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Senior billing specialists and collections coordinators both require similar skills like "patients," "cpt," and "billing issues" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior billing specialist responsibilities requires skills like "billing process," "financial reports," "medical claims," and "deltek costpoint." But a collections coordinator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "phone calls," "collection efforts," "account balances," and "collection process."

Collections coordinators earn a lower average salary than senior billing specialists. But collections coordinators earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $39,558. Additionally, senior billing specialists earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $64,965 annually.collections coordinators earn similar levels of education than senior billing specialists in general. They're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior billing specialist vs. Medical billing and coding externship

A billing and insurance coordinator is responsible for coordinating with employees from different departments of an organization for billing and insurance processing purposes. Billing and insurance coordinators sort mail for distribution to appropriate personnel, performing administrative and clerical duties as needed, managing and releasing of invoices under the manager's supervision, and responding to employees' inquiries and concerns. A billing and insurance coordinator must be highly analytical, as well as have excellent knowledge of the insurance disciplines and processes to assist the employees with their payments and benefits.

On average, medical billing and coding externships earn lower salaries than senior billing specialists, with a $16,143 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on senior billing specialists and medical billing and coding externships resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "patients," "billing system," and "data entry.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior billing specialist resumes include skills like "cpt," "billing issues," "billing process," and "customer service," whereas a medical billing and coding externship is more likely to list skills in "insurance eligibility," "cpt-4," "patient charts," and "medical charts. "

When it comes to education, medical billing and coding externships tend to earn lower degree levels compared to senior billing specialists. In fact, they're 5.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior billing specialist vs. Billing and insurance coordinator

Billing and insurance coordinators tend to earn a lower pay than senior billing specialists by an average of $11,114 per year.According to resumes from senior billing specialists and billing and insurance coordinators, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "patients," "cpt," and "billing issues. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "deltek costpoint," "revenue recognition," "contract terms," and "credit card payments" are skills that commonly show up on senior billing specialist resumes. On the other hand, billing and insurance coordinators use skills like work ethic, strong work ethic, elite, and client invoices on their resumes.In general, billing and insurance coordinators earn the most working in the professional industry, with an average salary of $58,069. The highest-paying industry for a senior billing specialist is the technology industry.In general, billing and insurance coordinators hold similar degree levels compared to senior billing specialists. Billing and insurance coordinators are 2.4% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of senior billing specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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