Top 12 Medical Collector Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting a strong resume as a medical collector means spotlighting the skills that actually move money: accurate coding, clean claims, sharp follow-up, and respectful, clear communication with patients and payers. Show the breadth, but prove depth. Hiring managers skim fast. Make every line earn its keep.

Medical Collector Skills

1. ICD-10
2. CPT
3. HIPAA Compliance
4. EHR Software
5. Medical Billing
6. Revenue Cycle
7. Accounts Receivable
8. Denial Management
9. Payment Posting
10. Epic Systems
11. Medisoft
12. Athenahealth

1. ICD-10

ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision) standardizes diagnosis coding across healthcare. Accurate codes mean clean claims, consistent data, and fewer billing headaches for everyone involved.

Why It's Important

Precise ICD-10 coding supports correct medical necessity, speeds reimbursement, and cuts avoidable denials. For collectors, that’s shorter A/R and clearer appeal paths.

How to Improve ICD-10 Skills

1. Continuous education: Keep up with annual ICD-10-CM updates and payer bulletins via AHIMA, AAPC, and internal compliance teams.
2. Use reliable tools: Work with current encoders and code-checkers that flag laterality, specificity, and sequencing issues.
3. Audit and feedback loops: Run periodic audits; fix root causes, not just symptoms. Share trends with coding and clinical teams.
4. Tight documentation: Clarify with providers when details are missing; create quick-reference guides for common diagnoses.
5. Payer nuance: Track payer-specific edits and LCD/NCD requirements; build checklists for frequent services.
6. Scenario practice: Practice edge cases and high-denial categories to sharpen speed and accuracy.

How to Display ICD-10 Skills on Your Resume

2. CPT

CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes describe procedures and services. They pair with ICD-10 to tell the full story for reimbursement.

Why It's Important

Accurate CPT coding—plus correct modifiers—prevents bundling errors, underpayments, and needless appeals. It keeps cash flow from stalling.

How to Improve CPT Skills

1. Study annual changes: Review Category I/II/III updates, deletions, and revised guidance every year.
2. Master modifier use: Focus on high-impact modifiers (e.g., 25, 59/XS/XU, 24, 57) and payer-specific interpretations.
3. Apply NCCI edits: Check bundling edits and medically unlikely edits before submission to stop instant denials.
4. Strengthen documentation: Align notes with code requirements (time, complexity, laterality, technique).
5. Audit charge capture: Validate that services performed match charges; fix recurring gaps in the charge master.
6. Close the loop: Use denial data to retrain on CPT/HCPCS and refine front-end workflows.

How to Display CPT Skills on Your Resume

3. HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA compliance demands safeguarding protected health information (PHI) in every interaction—phone, portal, paper, or platform.

Why It's Important

Trust, legality, and reputation ride on it. One slip can trigger penalties and erode patient confidence fast.

How to Improve HIPAA Compliance Skills

1. Regular training: Refresh privacy and security training at least annually; reinforce with quick micro-lessons.
2. Access controls: Enforce least-privilege access and multi-factor authentication; review access logs routinely.
3. Secure communications: Use approved, encrypted channels for PHI; never mix personal devices or unsecured email.
4. Risk assessments: Conduct periodic security risk analyses and patch identified gaps quickly.
5. Breach readiness: Keep a tested incident response and breach notification plan; document everything.
6. Clean desk/data hygiene: Shred, lock, log off. Simple habits prevent big problems.

How to Display HIPAA Compliance Skills on Your Resume

4. EHR Software

EHR systems centralize clinical, financial, and administrative data. For collectors, they’re the map: eligibility, authorizations, charges, notes, and payer responses in one place.

Why It's Important

Fewer toggles, fewer mistakes. When the EHR mirrors the revenue workflow, claims move faster and denials shrink.

How to Improve EHR Software Skills

1. Integrate coding/billing rules: Enable real-time edits for ICD-10/CPT/HCPCS, coverage, and prior-auth flags.
2. Automate submissions: Use electronic claims, ERA/EFT, and workqueues for exceptions only.
3. Eligibility in real time: Verify benefits at scheduling and again pre-service; store results to support appeals.
4. Streamline workqueues: Sort by denial reason, balance, and timely filing risk to hit the highest yield first.
5. Dashboards and reports: Track DSO, denial rates, clean-claim rate, and collector productivity; act on the trends.
6. Security practices: Follow role-based permissions and audit trails to stay compliant without blocking work.

How to Display EHR Software Skills on Your Resume

5. Medical Billing

Medical billing turns clinical care into claims, then payments. Collectors step in when balances linger or denials hit.

Why It's Important

Accurate, timely billing underpins the entire revenue cycle. Miss a step and days in A/R balloon.

How to Improve Medical Billing Skills

1. Front-end accuracy: Validate demographics, insurance, referrals, and authorizations before the visit.
2. Clean codes, clean claims: Match ICD-10 to CPT with proper modifiers and medical necessity.
3. Faster follow-up: Build cadence rules for first-touch, second-touch, and escalation; don’t let timely filing windows lapse.
4. Appeal smarter: Standardize appeal templates by denial type; attach the right clinical proof the first time.
5. Patient clarity: Offer estimates, payment plans, and plain-language statements. Fewer surprises, faster payments.
6. Continuous updates: Track payer policy and regulatory changes; bake them into workflows promptly.

How to Display Medical Billing Skills on Your Resume

6. Revenue Cycle

The revenue cycle spans scheduling to zero balance: verifying coverage, coding, billing, collections, and everything between. It’s the bloodstream of a practice or hospital.

Why It's Important

For collectors, understanding the whole chain reveals where claims stall and how to unstick them. Upstream fixes prevent downstream rework.

How to Improve Revenue Cycle Skills

1. Eligibility and benefits: Verify early, document details, and correct discrepancies before service.
2. Standardized workflows: Map each step, define owners, and monitor handoffs to avoid leakage.
3. Denial prevention: Identify top denial reasons and hardwire fixes (edits, checklists, training).
4. Timeliness: Submit quickly, post promptly, appeal before deadlines, and escalate when needed.
5. Patient financial engagement: Offer digital statements, portals, and flexible payment options.
6. Analytics culture: Track clean-claim rate, first-pass payment, net collection rate, and A/R aging by bucket.
7. Education: Keep teams current on coding updates, payer rules, and compliance guidance from groups like HFMA and HIMSS.

How to Display Revenue Cycle Skills on Your Resume

7. Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable (AR) reflects money owed by patients and payers for services rendered. It’s where collectors live day to day.

Why It's Important

Healthy AR means healthy cash flow. Aging balances signal process issues—fix the source, not just the symptom.

How to Improve Accounts Receivable Skills

1. Clean data: Ensure correct patient demographics and insurance details to avoid avoidable rejections.
2. Prioritize by yield: Work A/R by aging, balance, denial reason, and timely filing risk.
3. Consistent follow-up: Set contact intervals and escalation paths; track outcomes.
4. Payment options: Offer online pay, text-to-pay, and interest-free plans when appropriate.
5. Credit balance hygiene: Reconcile and resolve credits quickly to stay compliant and accurate.
6. AR aging reviews: Hold regular huddles on 60/90/120+ buckets and remove roadblocks fast.

How to Display Accounts Receivable Skills on Your Resume

8. Denial Management

Denial management means finding the why, fixing the cause, and getting paid—then preventing the repeat.

Why It's Important

Every prevented denial saves time and protects revenue margins. Appeals are necessary; prevention is cheaper.

How to Improve Denial Management Skills

1. Classify denials: Map by type (coding, eligibility, medical necessity, timely filing) and payer.
2. Work queues, not chaos: Route denials to specialists with checklists and turnaround targets.
3. Appeal playbooks: Standardize letters, attach the right evidence, and cite policy. Track overturn rates.
4. Fix upstream: Use denial analytics to update edits, training, and documentation templates.
5. Monitor KPIs: Watch initial denial rate, appeal success, and days to resolution. Improve iteratively.

How to Display Denial Management Skills on Your Resume

9. Payment Posting

Payment posting records payments, adjustments, and write-offs accurately to the correct encounters and line items.

Why It's Important

Clean posting powers clean A/R. It exposes payer behavior, underpayments, and trends you can act on.

How to Improve Payment Posting Skills

1. Standardize rules: Define adjustment codes, write-off policies, and reason code mappings.
2. Leverage ERA/EFT: Auto-post where safe; route exceptions for human review.
3. Reconciliation discipline: Match deposits to remittances daily; resolve variances immediately.
4. Underpayment detection: Compare allowed amounts to contracts and flag short pays.
5. Quality checks: Audit samples regularly; correct trends (duplicate posting, misapplied payments).
6. Training and cross-coverage: Keep staff current on remittance codes and system updates; avoid single points of failure.

How to Display Payment Posting Skills on Your Resume

10. Epic Systems

Epic is a widely used EHR with robust revenue tools (e.g., Resolute) for hospital and professional billing.

Why It's Important

When configured well, Epic centralizes billing workflows, automates edits, and speeds up collections. Less swivel-chair work, more resolution.

How to Improve Epic Systems Skills

1. Use reporting workbenches: Track denials, A/R by payer, and collector productivity; build saved views for daily use.
2. Automate reminders: Set follow-up rules, letters, and patient notifications within billing modules.
3. Optimize workqueues: Route by denial reason and payer; prioritize tasks nearing timely filing limits.
4. Engage patients via portal: Offer e-statements and online payments to shrink patient A/R.
5. Ongoing training: Keep teams current on release upgrades and new features; share tips internally.

How to Display Epic Systems Skills on Your Resume

11. Medisoft

Medisoft is practice management and billing software commonly used in small to mid-sized practices to manage scheduling, claims, and patient balances.

Why It's Important

It streamlines insurance claims and patient billing in lean settings, making it easier to keep A/R tight with fewer hands.

How to Improve Medisoft Skills

1. Automate routine tasks: Enable electronic claims, ERAs, and batch statements to cut manual entry.
2. Verify eligibility: Run real-time checks and store results to support clean claims and appeals.
3. Customize reports: Build A/R aging, denial, and productivity reports that guide daily work.
4. Harden security: Apply role-based access and regular backups; keep software current.
5. Patient outreach: Use reminders and digital statements to accelerate payments.
6. Refresh training: Review new features periodically; standardize office workflows.

How to Display Medisoft Skills on Your Resume

12. Athenahealth

Athenahealth offers cloud-based EHR, practice management, and revenue cycle tools with strong payer connectivity and analytics.

Why It's Important

It reduces manual follow-up by pushing claims, tracking denials, and surfacing next actions. Collectors spend time resolving, not hunting.

How to Improve Athenahealth Skills

1. Automate submissions and follow-ups: Use built-in rules to chase status and prompt timely appeals.
2. Lean on analytics: Monitor denial patterns by payer and CPT; fix upstream causes quickly.
3. Refine patient engagement: Offer easy payment portals, text reminders, and transparent estimates.
4. Integrate cleanly: Ensure interfaces with labs, clearinghouses, and accounting are stable and reconciled.
5. Continuous learning: Keep up with release notes and share best practices across the team.
6. Feedback loop: Collect frontline input to tweak templates, edits, and workqueues.

How to Display Athenahealth Skills on Your Resume