So you are considering going into medical coding/Billing? The first thing to do is to learn medical terminology
Building a strong foundation
Any career in medicine requires us to learn a new language. Having a strong foundation in medical term is very important. Before you take your medical coding, medical billing, or even anatomy course I highly encourage taking a medical terminology course!
How to study/learn medical term
Get yourself lots of flashcards- you can buy some pre-made, but pro tip is to write them yourself
Get a notebook to write the terms over and over- repetition seems to help
Remember spelling tests in school? Treat medical terminology the same and memorize your terms and how to spell them along with their definitions. No way you can memorize every single word,bit if you know your word parts you can define any word you encounter!
Spelling is important
Medical terms must be spelled correctly it is important because there are many terms that are similar(one or two letters off) musspelling could change a diagnosis or treatment plan.
Word parts
Prefix- beginning of a word
Word root- main part of the word
Suffix-end of a word
Prefix
Word part found at the beginning of a medical term.
Prefix is used to further define the absence, location, number, quantity, or state of the term.
Example: epi-= above
When you see a prefix written alone, you will see the wordpart with a hyphen behind it (epi-)
Word root
This is the word origin of the foundation of the word. Oftentimes, the root is expressed as a combining form that takes the word root and places a combining vowel (a letter used to join word parts)
Example: gastr=stomach gastr/o= stomach
When you see a word root written alone, you will see it usually as a combing form with a slash then O, E, or I
Suffix
Word part that is at the end of a term. Suffixes are used to indicate whether the term is an anatomic, pathologic, or procedural term.
Example -itis= inflammation
When you see a suffix written alone, you will see a hyphen, then the suffix(-itis)
Putting a word together
Epi- gastr -itis
Think of the hyphens as the connectors for the word
Epigastritis
Epi- means above
Gastr means stomach
-itis means inflammation
Epigstritis means inflammation of the area above the stomach