High-Demand Careers in Healthcare

Medical receptionists, billers, and/or coders perform administrative tasks within a variety of settings including, but not limited to, physician’s offices, billing units, after hour clinics and various hospital departments. Within these settings a range of duties include:

Assist clinical staff with clerical duties
Work with Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Schedule appointments
Verify insurance
Prepare claim forms
Collect copays and patient payments
Post insurance payments and balance accounts
Answer phones

What Will I Learn?

Westmoreland’s associate degree Medical/Healthcare Management Program provides the academic and internship experience to start a career in entry-level positions.Upon completion of the associate degree program, graduates are eligible to sit for a variety of national certification exams in both billing and coding. Once earned, these certifications allow graduates to earn more money and climb the employment ladder.

Graduates of the associate program are also able to further their education by transferring to various four-year institutions to obtain bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees in Healthcare or Business Management. View the AAS degree program in the College Catalog

Westmoreland also offers a Diploma and a Certificate in Medical/Healthcare Management as well as an Advanced Standing Medical Coding Certificate.

What Will I Earn?

If you plan to stay in the region, there are many occupations related to this program degree and certificates. In the 10-county region* surrounding Westmoreland County Community College, the earnings for occupations in this field range from:

$17.32 - $32.21 per hour, with an average hourly wage of $23.80 for medical records specialists
$16.08 - $34.69 per hour, with an average hourly wage of $23.31 for healthcare support workers
$16.77- $23.85 per hour, with an average hourly wage of $20.26 for medical secretaries and administrative assistants

It is important to remember that wages vary based on level of education, experience, job location and other factors.

Source: Data provided by Lightcast™ (https://lightcast.io/) 2026.1

* 10-county region includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.

Career Opportunities

Medical receptionists, billers, and/or coders are employed in physician’s offices, billing services, and hospitals.

Program Fees

First Year

Tuition

$143 per credit (Westmoreland County Residents) - $4,433 for 31 credits
$280 per credit (Out-of-County Residents) - $8,680 for 31 credits
$420 per credit (Out-of-State Residents) - $13,020 for 31 credits

Fees

General Fee $72 per credit (Westmoreland County Resident) - $2,232 for 31 credits
General Fee $70 per credit (Out-of-County and Out-of-State Residents) - $2,170 for 31 credits
- Healthcare Management Courses First Semester - 9 credits
- General Education Courses First Semester - 7 credits
- Healthcare Management Courses Second Semester - 12 credits
- General Education Courses Second Semester - 3 credits
Capital Fee $6 per credit (Out-of-County/Out-of-State Residents) - $186 for 31 credits
Lab Fee Healthcare Management Courses $70-$80 per course
- First Semester 0 courses
- Second Semester 0 courses
Lab Fee Non-Healthcare Management Courses $70-$80 per course
- First Semester 0 courses
- Second Semester 0 courses
*Software Fees - None

Textbooks

*Estimated textbooks - $1,350
*Estimated textbooks, general education - $450

Materials (Estimated)

Laptop w/ Windows 10 or later/Mac OS 11.0 or later, Chrome Browser, at least 8GB of RAM Capacity - $700
Webcam - $17.64
Internet Connection with at least 3Mbps of Upload/Download Speed - $40/month
2 in Post It Tabs (2 packages per manual) - $14/manual
1 in Post It Tabs (2 packages per manual) - $14/manual

*Fees, excluding college established Tuition Fees, are estimates and subject to change without notice.

Second Year