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If you’ve been researching medical billing courses, there’s a good chance you’ve run across Medical Billing Study Course. It’s the online training program offered by A Step Above Medical Billing (also known as Solutions Medical Billing Inc.), and I’ve had readers ask about it enough times that I thought it was worth taking a closer look.
Quick Answer
A Step Above Medical Billing Study Course is a solid option if you want affordable, self-paced training in general medical billing, especially if you are trying to learn the field well enough to work for a company or start your own billing business. It is not built specifically for mental health billing, though it does offer a standalone ebook on that topic. If your main goal is mental health billing for therapy practices, I would treat this as a strong general foundation to pair with more specialized training.
Who’s Behind It
The course was written by Alice Scott and Michele Redmond, a mother and daughter team who started Solutions Medical Billing back in 1994. They still run the company today, billing for providers across the country out of multiple office locations, and between them they have written more than a dozen books on medical billing topics.
One thing I like about the program is that it comes from people who have been working in medical billing for decades and still operate a billing company. That gives the training a practical perspective that you don’t always get with online courses.
What’s Actually Included
A Step Above offers several ways to purchase the training, so you can choose between individual courses, bundles, and certificate programs. Here’s how they break down.
Individual Courses ($129 each)
There are 10 standalone courses, and you can buy just the ones you need:
- Introduction to Health Insurance and the Medical Billing Process
- Understanding Coding and Modifiers
- Life Cycle of a Health Insurance Claim
- Billing Medicare, TRICARE and Medicaid
- Billing Blue Cross, Commercial, Workers’ Comp and More
- HIPAA, HITECH and Regulatory Issues
- Reading EOBs, Handling Denials and Filing Appeals
- Working With a Practice Management System
- Marketing a Medical Billing Business
- Operating a Medical Billing Business
Bundles
If you know you want more than one or two courses, the bundles save you money over buying individually:
| Bundle | Price | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Medical Billing Program | $329 | Core billing courses for someone learning the fundamentals |
| Medical Billing Business Program | $239 | Courses focused on starting and running a billing business |
Certificate Programs
- Advanced Certified Medical Biller Program ($799) – all eight core billing courses bundled together, covering everything from insurance basics through practice management systems.
- Advanced Certified Medical Biller with Medical Billing Business ($999) – the same eight courses plus the business-focused training for anyone planning to start their own billing service.
Completing a bundle earns you a certificate as an Advanced Certified Medical Biller through their program. That doesn’t necessarily make the certificate unhelpful, but it is important to understand what you’re getting. It is an A Step Above credential rather than an industry certification such as AAPC’s CPB or CPC. If you are choosing training specifically because you want a widely recognized professional credential, check how the certificate is viewed by the employers or clients you’re hoping to work with.
Introduction to Mental Health Billing (ebook, $29)
This is the one that will interest most of my readers. It is a standalone ebook, not part of the main course platform, and it covers mental health billing basics including authorizations, Medicare and Medicaid, commercial claims, ICD-10 and CPT codes, denials and appeals, and billing for things like psychological testing, EAP visits, and nursing home mental health services. It also includes 20 completed sample claims with an answer key, which is genuinely useful since seeing a correctly filled out claim form tends to make the concepts click faster than reading about them.
At $29 it is a low-risk way to get oriented on mental health billing specifically, but it is a supplement, not a substitute for the core courses if you do not already understand general billing.
Who This Is Best For
- Someone brand new to billing who wants an affordable way to learn the fundamentals before committing to a bigger investment
- A future biller who wants to eventually start their own billing business and needs both the technical and business-side training
- Someone who prefers buying individual courses instead of one large program, so they can fill specific knowledge gaps
- A biller or VA who already has some mental health billing exposure and wants a low-cost supplement covering the general side of the field
Who May Want a Different Type of Training
- Someone looking for mental health-specific training from the beginning. The core curriculum focuses on general medical billing, while the mental health material is offered separately.
- Someone who needs a widely recognized industry credential for job applications. AAPC’s CPB is more broadly recognized than A Step Above’s internal certificate.
- Someone who learns best with live instruction, cohorts, or a set schedule. This is self-paced, text and quiz-based training with email and phone support rather than live classes.
Is This a Good Fit for Mental Health Billing Specifically?
Here is the honest answer: the majority of A Step Above’s core courses were not written with mental health practices in mind. However, they cover the same claims process, coding structure, and payer rules that apply across medical specialties, which is genuinely useful background. But mental health billing has its own quirks that this general training will not fully address on its own, things like the 90000 series CPT codes, behavioral health carve-outs on many insurance plans, authorization requirements that are stricter for therapy than for a lot of medical visits, and documentation standards tied to session notes.
Their Introduction to Mental Health Billing ebook helps close some of that gap. It is a reasonable starting point if you already understand general billing and just need the mental health-specific pieces layered on top.
If you are starting from zero and mental health is your specific goal, I would actually recommend working through my Best Medical Billing Courses for Therapists roundup, since it compares several options built specifically for this niche. A Step Above’s general courses can still be a smart addition, particularly if you plan to eventually support multiple specialties, not just mental health.
Where I think A Step Above makes the most sense is for someone who wants to understand medical billing beyond just the therapy-specific pieces. If you want to eventually work with different provider types, start a broader medical billing business, or simply understand the entire revenue cycle rather than learning only the codes and workflows used in behavioral health, the general curriculum could be a real advantage.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Written and taught by working billers with real, current experience, not just instructors reading from a script
- Affordable compared to many formal certification programs
- Flexible, self-paced format with individualized support by phone or email
- You can buy exactly what you need instead of one large all-or-nothing program
- The mental health billing ebook is a low-cost way to get oriented on the topic
- If you want to start a billing business of your own, you need comprehensive training from someone who has done it!
Cons
- Not built specifically for mental health or behavioral health billing
- Their certificate is an internal credential, not one recognized the way AAPC or AMBA certifications are
- No live instruction or cohort experience if that’s how you learn best (but they do offer free support).
- The individual courses are affordable, but the total investment increases if you eventually decide you need several of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is A Step Above Medical Billing Study Course legitimate?
Yes. The company has been operating since 1994, and Alice Scott and Michele Redmond still run an active medical billing business alongside the training site. That kind of longevity and ongoing hands-on experience in the field is a good sign when you’re evaluating training providers.
How much does A Step Above Medical Billing Study Course cost?
Individual courses run $129 each. Bundles range from $239 to $329, and the full certificate programs are $799 or $999 depending on whether you add the business-focused courses. The mental health billing ebook is a separate $29 purchase. Always check their site directly for current pricing, since it can change.
Does A Step Above offer a recognized medical billing certification?
They offer their own internal Advanced Certified Medical Biller credential upon completing a bundle. It is not the same as certifications from AAPC or AMBA, which are more widely recognized across the industry. If you need a credential that carries weight with employers or clients, I would verify what specific recognition their certificate carries before assuming it will substitute for something like the CPB.
Is this course good for someone who wants to specialize in mental health billing?
It’s a reasonable supplement, not a specialized program. The core courses teach general medical billing, and the mental health-specific content is limited to a separate $29 ebook. If mental health billing is your primary goal, I’d start with training built specifically for that niche and treat A Step Above as additional general knowledge.
How long does it take to complete the courses?
According to their FAQ, a motivated student working consistently can get through the material in about four weeks, while someone studying part time should expect closer to three months. Since it’s self-paced, the actual timeline depends entirely on how much time you can put in each week.
Final Thoughts
A Step Above Medical Billing Study Course is a legitimate, affordably priced option for learning general medical billing, built by people who are still actively working in the field. If your goal is a broad billing education, or you want to eventually start your own billing business, it’s worth a look, especially since you can buy just the individual courses you need instead of committing to a full program upfront.
For mental health billing specifically, I’d definitely make sure you pair the general training with the Mental Health Billing eBook.
If you decide this looks like a fit, you can check out A Step Above Medical Billing Study Course here.
Looking to build billing skills as a virtual assistant? Check out my guide to remote mental health billing jobs for more on breaking into this field. And if you’re setting up billing workflows for your own practice, my Mental Health Billing SOP Toolkit can help you get organized from day one.
