Reason #765 to take Medical Billing Classes Online: Blizzard-mageddon-zilla!

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As of the writing of this post, the northeastern US seaboard sits waiting for the arrival of Winter Storm Juno.  Predicted to be a potentially record-shattering snow event, complete with 2-3 feet of the powdery stuff and sustained 50 MPH winds, Juno (and lord how I HATE that they’re naming winter storms now) threatens to shut down the cities of New York, Boston and others along the northeast. Transit and traffic will come to a standstill.  High winds and heavy snows will knock out power to millions, bread and milk shelves in local groceries will be picked clean (if they aren’t already). Everyone is freaking OUT! But you know who’s calm, poised, and veritably un-phased by the imminent snowy destruction?  Students taking medical billing classes online with the Allen School.  That’s who!  Yep.  If you were studying medical billing classes online with the Allen School, you’d be all snug in your home, piles of bread and buckets of milk, computer light casting a warm glow on your face, ready to ride out the blizzard-mageddon-zilla.  On days like today and tomorrow and Wednesday, we’re all envious of the men and women who had the forethought to pursue a new career from the comfort of their own homes via medical billing classes online with Allen School. Stay safe and warm.  We’ll check in on you after we’ve dug ourselves out.  In the meantime, enjoy comedian Vic Dibitetto’s viral classic depicting panicked New Englanders when the TeeVee predicts a snowstorm.      

Hidden Healthcare Landscapes Beneath a Medical Assistant’s Day-to-Day

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intestineLearning to become a medical assistant includes a lot of information about basic anatomy, physiology and a host of other important facts.  What is covered in the medical assistant training course is certainly in-depth, but not perhaps as in-depth as the slide show linked here which shows what the amazing human body and its respective parts look like under strong magnification.  Most medical assistants will contribute efforts toward treating ailments affecting a wide variety of body parts, but few will ever see these “close-ups” on a regular basis. Whether we’re talking about neurons in the brain, tastebuds on the tongue, fingernails, small intestines, teeth, red blood cells, sweat, burnt skin, blood platelets, breast cancer cells or other items, most of what we see and experience regarding these items is dealt with in abstract terms.  Getting to see these images up close, under great magnification really exposes the wonder and mystery of the human body and the processes which govern health and wellness.  Have a look under the microscope and be prepared to be captivated anew at the marvels of science that inform the venerable and important field you’re about to enter.

Better Looking Documents for Earning Medical Office Assistant Certification

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Whether you’re a medical coding online student or you’re taking classes at the ground campuses to earn your medical office assistant certification, this information will be of value to you.  In fact, no matter what certification you earn studying at the Allen School, you’re bound to be preparing a resume for the job hunt and this pair of cool tricks will help you make a more dynamic and professional looking document to hand to recruiters.
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Many resumes today include a photo of the candidate.  Multimedia presentations have become more or less expected in today’s social media driven work environment.  Microsoft Word, that old workhorse of document creation has been updated to address the task.  Instead of simply dropping in a rectangular photo (as all photos generally tend to be shaped) use the “crop shape” function in MS Word to put your head shot in a nice oval or any other shape. Similarly, most documents – whether they are essays/term papers, resumes or other important works – contain bullet pointed lists of information.  The tired old bullet point list has been given an exciting makeover including the potential for color coded shading and other nifty effects to draw greater attention to the data sets.  MS Word’s “Smart Art” function helps spiff these up a bit. For details and screen grab instructions to show you how easy it is to make these manipulations happen in your own documents, read this great tutorial from TechRepublic.  Then go out and “wow” ’em with your great looking documents!

Keep Studying Medical Billing Students – Medical Billing Classes Online

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If you’re studying medical billing classes online with the Allen School, you’re fortunate in that it is much easier for you to avoid inclement weather.  Be it heavy summer thunderstorm downpours or freezing winter winds and snow, the online student can watch the forecast on TeeVee in the morning and simply opt to stay inside all day while studying. If you’re taking any of the healthcare training classes offered at Allen School ground campuses in the New York Metro area, you’re not as lucky.  The chances you’ll be caught in iffy weather are far higher.  But fret not!  There are numerous weather forecasting apps you can download into your mobile device whether it be an iPhone or an Android phone.  The video below looks at the best apps for both platforms – free and paid.  Enjoy, and stay cool and dry! If you would like to get enrolled, contact us to get your career started. Article updated March 12, 2024

What CNAs, Billing and Coding Pros and Medical Office Assistants Have in Common

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The one thing that employed certified nursing assistants, medical billing and coding pros and medical office assistants have in common is an effective résumé.  Even with the strength of the hiring market for medical industry professionals, there is still a very competitive environment for those seeking work.  Getting the interview is not easy in any field.  Getting noticed by the hiring managers requires having a solid and well conceived résumé or CV (curriculum vitae). The Business Insider just published one of the best, most comprehensive articles on what it takes to build an effective résumé for a competitive job market.  I highly recommend you read it.  Especially if you’ve recently (or are about to) received your CNA certification, your medical billing and coding certificate or if you’ve completed the medical office assistant training program at Allen School.  The piece explains (among many other important things) the importance of tailoring each résumé for every job opportunity; how to decide whether or not to include an objective statement; how and why to insert keywords; and about a dozen other critical pieces of information.  Simply put, great résumés land great jobs!  

Best Job Markets in the US: Part Deux – NJ’s Monmouth-Ocean Counties

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Today, let’s examine the career environment in the Monmouth and Ocean Counties of New Jersey. These two coastal counties just south of New York City are home to many of the famed New Jersey Shore communities. Offering summertime visitors and residents alike sun, surf and proximity to the cultural and economic powerhouse that is New York City, Monmouth and Ocean Counties also rank very high in terms of their career potentials for those seeking employment in healthcare related industries. Monmouth-Ocean is among the top 25 “medium sized” cities for jobs and business in the US and ranks 57th out of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas. The Department of Human Services has significant resources in this area and provides services in a number of relevant areas such as aging, mental health, addictions and others. No less than 3 of the top 10 source industries in Monmouth-Ocean are in healthcare related fields. And there are plenty of large organizations to support solid job growth in this field including:
  • Southern Ocean County Hospital
  • St. Barnabas Healthcare System
  • CentraState Healthcare System
  • Monmouth Medical Center
  • Bayshore Community Health Center
Besides strong opportunities for stable employment, this area also boasts great quality of life. Strong green community development initiatives and the spectacular natural beauty of famous shorepoints like Seaside Heights, Point Pleasant, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island and Springsteen’s favorite, Asbury Park, make this coastal area a wonderful place to be during work hours and during play time too! As a young man, I spent many summers traveling to the New Jersey Shore. Etched into my memory are the sounds and smells of the beach boardwalk commingling salt air, coconut oil, sausage & pepper heroes, corn on the cob and salt water taffy. Add to these intoxicating aromas the delighted squeals of rollercoaster riding kids, the perpetual throb of the surf and the cries of maritime birds. The relaxing vibe of the sleepy coastal towns always helped tranquilize me and wash away the stresses of life. How great would it be to live and work in such a attractive and prosperous environment? For more detailed info on Monmouth-Ocean demographics and job data, visit: http://hubpages.com/hub/Monmouth-Ocean-NJ

Ransomware: At the Nexus of Medical Office Assistant Training and IT

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An interesting story rests at the intersection of medical office assistant training and IT-centric activities like online medical billing.  According to news reports, MedStar, a health network of 10 Maryland hospitals, was  struck by a ransomware attack last week.  What’s ransomware?  If you’re soon to complete medical office assistant training or online medical billing classes, you’re on your way into career positions that require you to be knowledgeable almost as much about IT as medicine – ergo you MUST learn about ransomware so you can help keep it away from the computer systems in the offices where you’ll be employed. Ransomware is a type of virus that is delivered via an email.  Typically, the email has what looks like a legitimate purpose, with a seemingly innocent subject line.  Many victims report the email subject says “Invoice Inside – Please Remit”.  Inside the email is an attachment that looks like the invoice.  When the diligent medical office assistant opens the attached invoice to process it, the virus is inserted into the computer.  The virus immediately shuts the use out of the computer and will not allow the user re-entry until a ransom is paid to the hackers. This article from techie site ArsTechnica details the failure of MedStar IT personnel to properly guard against this form of cyberattack.   While MedStar was able to gain reentry to its entire network of infected computers without paying the hacker’s ransom, there was still a good deal of waste and headache caused by the event which idled the company’s workforce for a period of time while the issue was sorted out.  Obviously, this is something that any organization would rather avoid than figure out the hard way (like MedStar). It pays for people like you taking medical office assistant training to educate yourself on computer systems and IT considerations like this.  You needn’t be a geeky propeller-head or a serious computer nerd.  But knowing about tricky virus scams like this – and how they’re communicated – can really be a lifesaver (no pun intended) when your office is confronted with attacks like this.  Be aware of emails with attachments from senders you’re not familiar with.  Don’t be afraid to show anything suspicious to IT team workers if you think there’s a chance it is a scam.  The life you save may be your computer’s.

New Healthcare Law Requires Chain Restaurants to Post Calorie Counts

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Healthcare Law Requires Fast Food Calorie ListingAccording to a report by the Associated Press: WASHINGTON – A requirement tucked into the massive U.S health care bill will make calorie counts impossible for thousands of restaurants to hide and difficult for consumers to ignore. More than 200,000 fast food and other chain restaurants will have to include calorie counts on menus, menu boards and even drive-throughs.  Read the whole article here. It may be a bit onerous for these restaurants to have to do this, but if you’ve ever seen those popular “Eat This, Not That” books and website, you know that often, seemingly “healthy” menu items can be worse than things that have a reputation for being “bad for you”.   In this blogger’s opinion, this step is a positive one because it will help American’s make more informed choices about what they eat.  Dietary choices are behind so many of the leading illnesses in our society from obesity to cancer.  The more info we have as a society, the better off we will be as we choose what to eat.

Good News for Nursing Assistants, Medical Assistants and Medical Billing Specialists

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In today’s troubled world, we all too frequently consume heaping doses of bad news.  From wars around the globe, to school shootings to outbreaks of deadly diseases, the daily papers and TV news reports are filled with tales of woe and suffering.  As people working as medical nursing assistants or performing medical assistant duties in emergency rooms and doctors’ offices, the career you’re training for at the Allen School is frequently on the front lines of these terrible events as you help tend to the ill and injured.  So it is important from a temperamental standpoint that you also seek out sources of life affirming, positive news from around the world.  Things that help you to remember the good that exists in humanity.   This is why I recommend visiting what appears to be a fairly new addition to the many sections over at the HuffingtonPost.  The section is not entitled, “News”.  Rather, it bears the positive title, “Good News” and hosts nothing but happy stories to bring a smile to your face and a warm glow to your heart.  Check it out here and then you’ll always know where to drop by if you need a quick emotional pick me up.

Medical Assistant Training Better Odds Than $1.3bb Powerball Jackpot

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Powerball fever has reached an, um, fever pitch, with no winner in last Saturday’s drawing.  This pushes the jackpot to a record $1.3 billion pool.  And while we’re all engaging in a bit of fanciful dreaming about how our lives would be if we were the lucky winner, the truth is less sexy and alluring.   The truth is, if you’re seeking a pathway to more money, greater financial autonomy, a wider array of employment opportunity, a better quality of life for your family and all the things that come with a higher income, the odds favor those who complete medical assistant training with the Allen School. With the powerball, you have a 1 in 292 million chance of winning.  Compare that to the roughly 1 in 900,000 chance you’ll be struck by lightning in 2016 and you can see just how improbable a Powerball win truly is.   On the other hand, there is a much greater chance that, with a degree earned via medical assistant training with the Allen School, you’ll be able to land a good paying job in a growing field. It may be fun to buy a ticket or two (buying 100 tickets does nothing to significantly increase your odds of winning) and then spend some time fantasizing about winters in Bali, summers in the Alps, etc.  But if you want a sure thing, embark on an exciting new career today as a medical office assistant.  It’s as close to a sure thing as you’ll find out there.