Medical Biller: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a medical biller?

A medical biller is responsible for processing, managing and following up on invoices for healthcare services. This job title is most common in private healthcare settings, where billing patients directly or working with insurers is required, although similar positions exist in the NHS under titles such as finance officer, billing administrator or overseas visitor officer.

Why recruit a medical biller?

Healthcare organisations can benefit from recruiting a dedicated medical biller to manage invoices, insurance claims and payments efficiently. Their work helps streamline financial processes, reduce errors and ease the administrative burden on clinical staff. Practices often look to recruit a medical biller when expanding or seeking to improve overall financial management.

Contributions of a great medical biller:

• Processing invoices and insurance claims quickly and efficiently
• Resolving billing errors to prevent payment delays and maintaining patient satisfaction
• Maximising revenue collection while safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring compliance with healthcare and financial regulations

Defining your recruitment needs for a medical biller

Your recruitment needs typically depend on the type of organisation, the volume of billing and the available budget. A private medical practice may need a medical biller to manage a smaller number of invoices, liaise with patients directly and ensure accurate submission of claims to insurers. By contrast, an insurance company may require billers who can process a much higher volume of claims and apply detailed knowledge of medical codes and coverage policies.

You’ll also need to decide whether the position should be full-time, part-time or seasonal, depending on patient demand or insurance claim cycles.

Other common names for this role include billing administrator, medical billing specialist, patient accounts clerk or insurance administrator. The job may be confused with medical coding, which is a separate role focused on translating healthcare services into standardised code.

What are the types of medical billers?

Medical biller jobs can be distinguished by whether they are based at a private healthcare provider, an insurance company or within the NHS. The needs of the specific setting may shape a medical biller’s day-to-day duties, but core functions of the role include managing invoices, payments and claims while ensuring accuracy and compliance. Common subtypes include:

• Private practice medical biller: found in hospitals, clinics or private practices, managing patient accounts and claims to insurers
• Insurance-based medical biller: works for health insurers to review claims submitted by healthcare providers, check them against policy terms and authorise or reject payments
• NHS medical biller: typically called a finance officer or overseas visitor officer, focusing on processing charges for private patients or overseas visitors who are not eligible for free NHS care

Similar positions to medical biller include:

• Accounts receivable clerk: a broader finance role found in many different sectors, with similar duties to a medical biller, including invoicing, payment tracking and following up on overdue accounts
• Medical records clerk: manages patient records and documentation but not financial transactions
• Medical secretary: provides general administrative support, such as writing referrals, managing correspondence, scheduling appointments and limited billing-related documents.

When writing your medical biller job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on medical biller jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Finance assistant
• Finance
• Accounts receivable
• Billing
• Legal billing
• Accounting

Want more recruitment insights for your medical biller? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.

Where to find a medical biller?

To find the right medical biller for your business, consider trying out a few different recruitment strategies:

• Healthcare job boards: posting on sites focused on the healthcare or medical administration sector can broaden your reach and attract quality candidates already active in the medical administration sector
• Referrals from your network: professional contacts or existing employees may recommend potential medical biller candidates with a proven track record. Some organisations use employee referral programmes to encourage participation.
• Colleges and vocational training centres: partnering with colleges or training providers offering medical billing, coding or healthcare administration courses can connect you with graduates who understand the foundations of the role
• Post your job online: try posting your medical biller job on Indeed to find and attract quality medical biller candidates.

Skills to look for in a medical biller

A successful medical biller candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• Knowledge of medical terminology and coding systems used in billing
• Experience with invoicing, payment collection and processing insurance claims
• Strong attention to detail for accurate coding, invoicing and account reconciliation
• Familiarity with practice management and billing software and good spreadsheet skills
• Communication skills for liaising with clinicians, insurers and patients
• Understanding of confidentiality, data protection and regulatory compliance

Writing a medical biller job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular jobseeker search terms and recruitment insights for a medical biller, you’re ready to write a job description.

A medical biller job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing medical biller job descriptions.

Interviewing medical biller candidates

Strong candidates for medical biller positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Their experience with chasing up on invoices, processing insurance claims or resolving billing issues
• How they avoid or reconcile errors when entering billing or patient information
• Examples of working with billing software, practice management systems or spreadsheets
• How they handle sensitive or confidential data in line with regulations
• Their approach to managing multiple deadlines and large volumes of billing work

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of medical biller interview questions for examples (with sample answers).