Medical Billing/Coding

A Medical Billing/Coding specialist analyzes health care records and assigns codes to medical data. The codes classify diagnoses and procedures for use in medical research, reimbursement and health care planning. The Medical Billing/Coding program consists of 36 credit hours and can be completed in four semesters of full-time study and also allows for the flexibility for students who desire part-time study.

The Cox College Coding program is approved by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). This designation acknowledges the coding program as having been evaluated by a peer review process against a national minimum set of standards for entry-level coding professionals. This process allows academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and private companies to be acknowledged as offering an AHIMA Approved Coding Certificate Program. This approval is effective June 1, 2011 to May 31, 2016.

"Value for Students" Statement

Several factors make AHIMA approval valuable, including:

identifies specialized programs that meet established coding educational standards
stimulates improvement of educational standards through faculty development opportunities, and by involving faculty and staff in program evaluation and planning
promotes a better understanding of the goals of professional coding education
provides reasonable assurance that practitioners possess the necessary job skills upon entry into the profession

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Program Overview

The Coding certificate program is now approved by the American Health Information Managament Association (AHIMA). This approval designates that our graduates possess the necessary job skills to attain succes in entry level coding postions. Students are guided through a comprehensive coding curriculum providing them with 240 hours of instruction in ICD-9-CM and CPT coding and reimbursement methodogies and coming in Spring 2012 ICD-10-CM. Within this framework, the goal is to meet the learning needs of the student and to motivate and assist students to achieve their career goals.

The Medical Billing/Coding certificate program provides a curriculum combining intensive academics with clinical instruction to provide the graduate with the technical skills and ability to be an immediate asset to a wide range of health care providers and insurers. The curriculum provides the knowledge to accurately describe medical, surgical, and diagnostic services. Students learn to utilize descriptive terms and identify codes for reporting medical services and procedures performed by health care providers.

Admission Information

Admission procedure to Cox College includes submitting an application for admission with the required $45 application fee, an official high school transcript or high school equivalency certificate (GED) and official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended.

To be eligible to be admitted into the Medical Billing/Coding program a candidate must:

complete admission procedure to Cox College
submit the program specific application
submit two letters of reference
submit a personal essay on your desire to enter the program.

Once admitted you will need to submit a:

clear background check
negative drug screen
$125 application fee prior to enrolling in classes.

Selection

Students are considered for admission into the Medical Billing/Coding program based on prior academic performance and the order in which application was received. Once a student has been notified of an offer for admission into the Medical Billing/Coding certificate program, a $125 non-refundable admission deposit must be submitted prior to enrolling in classes. Students will be notified of admission offers in writing and informed to contact their academic advisor to register for classes.

Verification of the following must be provided by all Medical Billing/Coding students prior to the first day of class:

negative drug screen
clear criminal background check.

Progression

To successfully progress through the Medical Billing/Coding certificate program, students must demonstrate safe, responsible and professional conduct and meet the following academic standards:

a grade of "C" or better in all courses; and
a grade of 95% or better in the laboratory component.

Certificate requirements must be met within three years of admission into the Medical Billing/Coding certificate program.
A student who withdraws or does not achieve a grade of "C" or better in any co-requisite course will NOT be allowed to progress to the next Medical Billing/Coding course until the co-requisite requirement is successfully completed. If withdrawal of a co-requisite course occurs, withdrawal in the concurrent Medical Billing/Coding course will also be required. If progression in the Medical Billing/Coding program is interrupted for this or any reason, enrollment will be resumed only on a space-available basis.

Medical Billing/Coding certificate program requirements:
36 credit hours

Core curriculum
HSCC 100 Medical Terminology for Health Sciences*
HSCC 101 Human Anatomy&Physiology Health Sciences*
HSCC 111 Human Disease for Health Sciences*
HSCC 104 Pharmacology for Health Sciences*
HSCC 109 Health Care Delivery Systems
HSCC 105 Intro to HIM/Ethics*
HSCC 110 The Electronic Medical Record

All above courses are online.

Medical Billing/Coding courses
MDCO 101 Coding System I
MDCO 102 Coding Systems II, CPT Procedural Coding
MDCO 103 Coding Systems III, Advanced Coding
MDCO 104 Data Quality Reimbursement & Insurance Billing*
MDCO 105 Medical Coding Practicum

For complete course descriptions please see the Cox College Catalog.

Upon completion of program of study the certificate recipient will be able to:

Understand medical terminology, laboratory, anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology as it relates to body system and disease processes.
Explain the purposes of diseases and operations classification and nomenclatures.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts and coding principles of ICD-9-CM and CPT and apply knowledge of disease process and health record documentation to accurately assign and/or verify the correct codes to specific diagnoses and procedures Identify correct sequence codes.
Validate coding accuracy using clinical information found in the health record.
Understand reimbursement design concepts in examination and evaluation of third-party billing and/or payment.
Understand what coding accuracy is in relation to compliance with federal and regulatory requirements; and utilize and refer to various references in coding.
Identify correct sequence codes.
Utilize and refer to various references in coding.

Medical Billing/Coding Career Opportunities

There is a nationwide demand for expert, experiences Medical Billing/Coding specialists. These health information specialists have a variety of employment options available. Medical Coding/Billing is a career in which you can work in the health information management department, the emergency department or other specialty areas in a hospital, physician's offices, insurance companies, long term care facilities, or specialty medical clinics.

To learn more about the benefits of being an approved coding program through AHIMA visit these websites.

www.healthinformationcareers.com

www.ahima.org/careers/college_search/search.asp