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AA in Coding versus no AA? - Needing to know

Posted: Nov 03, 2010

I'm really starting to get frustrated with the whole researching of coding schools. I've been looking on-and-off for almost a year and still haven't decided. I just spend the whole morning at a school where I would get my AA degree upon completion in coding with job placement assistance, etc but I will be in debt to the tune of $10-15K at the end. Whereas I've looked into Andrews, CareerStep and also LC Coding where I would graduate ready to take the test to be certified. Are places hiring coders looking for your AA degree or will being certified be enough? Any information will help!

AA for coding - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I've seen lots of ads for coders but have never seen one that required an AA or any specifice degree. They usually just want a certification but I don't think they care how you ended up getting it. I personally think an AA program in coding, especially one that costs $10-15K, as I've heard many do, is just trying to remove money from your wallet. Try looking at a site like indeed.com and put in your city or any city and "medical coder" and just take a look at the ads you see and what they require. There may be some that want an AA but from what I've seen, they are in the minority.

Are you the Central CA poster asking about Heald again? - Same thing they told my daughter

[ In Reply To ..]
Cost about $15-20K with an "AA" but no idea if that's a REAL AA or a HEALD AA, which wouldn't be worth the paper on which it is written anywhere else.

I don't want my daughter going into debt for $15-20K when she might accomplish the same thing through Andrews or MTEC for a fraction of that.

Course info - jm

[ In Reply To ..]
Those asking about courses and what is the best way should scan through all the messages on this board. This has been batted around a lot and you might gain some insight from the different opinions and conversations in the archives here.

coding and AA - raydonia

[ In Reply To ..]
No need for the AA for coding, but if you want to take the next step and become a RHIT or RHIA and move up in the world, you will have to have one. However, it shouldn't cost that much at your local community college. Check the AHIMA site to be sure you are taking the right courses.

A little clarification about the AA that is . . . - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
An RHIT or RHIA is not necessarily "a step up" for a coder. That may be the perception in some hospital settings, but it is not the case throughout the industry. A coding certification (other than the CCA) demonstrates mastery level coding skills, but the RHIT demonstrates only entry-level skills in worker-bee areas. Even the RHIA doesn't say much about coding skills, as it focuses on management. Having only an RHIT or RHIA is a clue that the holder can't code, and many employers know this.

Someone who works in an AHIMA-oriented hospital setting will naturally see mostly AHIMA-oriented credential focus, but the rest of the industry -- which is huge -- does not put much stock in that. There is a lot of coding going on that doesn't happen in hospitals, and the coders who do that tend to care more about AAPC certifications because those are the ones that address the type of coding they do.

There is also nothing wrong with outpatient coding. It is "real coding" just like hospital coding is real coding. In many cases, it pays better than hospital coding because it is more valuable to the employer. To a hospital, a coder is an expense to be endured to get the statistics done. To an outpatient facility or clinic, the coder is a miracle-worker who facilitates and optimizes the revenue stream, and they are willing to pay for that. Coding consultants are highly valued by physicians.

But, if you are going to want an RHIT or RHIA someday, THAT particular AA isn't going to help, because THAT program isn't accredited by AHIMA. Check the AHIMA website.

Neither an AA nor an RHIT are required for an RHIA. The RHIA requires a bachelor's degree in HIM or a bachelor's degree in any field plus a certificate in HIM from an AHIMA-accredited program.

For the RHIT, you need an associates degree from an AHIMA-accredited program.

The AHIMA website does not list Heald as having an accredited OR approved program in HIT or coding. Consequently, you would be ineligible to sit for the RHIT exam when you finished. It would not be guaranteed that any courses from there would transfer to an AHIMA-accredited program, no matter what the career counselor at the school tells you.

Suggestions - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
It is difficult to say if any program will teach you to code, but there is no evidence that whopping costs are evidence of quality.

If you have not googled this school and its parent corporation (see the fine print at the bottom of the school's web page), you might want to do that. Be sure you see the article in the New York Times by Peter S. Goodman (March 2010) and also the blog about the zoning dispute in Milwaukee.

There is one basic thing that will help you get a job in coding, and that is passing an AAPC or AHIMA certification exam.

Coding programs do not require an AA. They typically involve about half of what is required for an AA. You just do not need 2 years of coursework to learn coding. The only reason I can think of to make it into an AA is to keep all that good federal guaranteed student loan money rolling in longer.

Is there any harm in doing an AA like that? Yes. First, there is the time issue. Because it is substantially longer, it will delay your entry into the work force for a year or more. You will thus lose about $30K that you could have earned in that year. Just add that on top of the loan debt.

Second, there is the debt issue. There is a huge difference between a flat cost of $3800 and a looming debt of 15-30K.

Third, it is unlikely that an employer is going to be impressed that you spent 15-30K on an absolutely unnecessary AA in coding. To be blunt, it would not send a good message about your judgement or common sense. It would communicate that you might be a gullible individual who would become a risk management liability.

Coding is a profession, not clerical work. It requires a high degree of reasoning and the ability to make ethical business decisions. If you can't make a sound decision about the inadvisability of a 15-30K debt from a diploma mill, how are you going to make a sound decision when someone in your organization is trying to get you to code unethically? And doesn't a huge debt like that pose a risk management problem? Employers are going to decide against hiring you simply because they know that you will be unable to pay it off with the salary they are offering, and that there is a risk that you will become so desperate that you will do something unethical or illegal.

If you think this is impossible, my facility has had some of these people apply. We have turned them down because we just think they have poor judgement.

Risk management - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with what you are saying in regard to obtaining a quality education at a more affordable price. I think that some of the schools pad their programs with unnecessary classes to extend the time and the cost. I disagree, though, that someone with student loans is a poor employment risk and might be construed as employment discrimination, "poor judgment" is a very subjective observation. On average it takes physicians 8 years to become profitable, no one sees that as a bad thing. Being unemployed and living off the taxpayers is not much of a contribution and probably won't pay those loans off either. If the person has student loans it should not matter if they are trustworthy and know how to do the work.

I talked to a recruiter today - and was not surprised to hear what she said

[ In Reply To ..]
She said she has never been successful with graduates of community college coding courses because they don't have enough actual coding and they aren't prepared for certification. I've always believed that was the case for other reasons, but it was interesting to hear her viewpoint.

I am getting my AA degree... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
because I eventually want to become an RHIA or RHIT and go for my bachelors degree. I am doing this as I feel like it will be an accomplishment in my life and I want to move up in the coding world. My community college offers AA degree and it's $2700 a semester. I applied for financial aid and they (grants) will pay for it all so I will end up paying nothing.

I would not have written my comment above if I had read yours first - talked to a recruiter today

[ In Reply To ..]
I was not responding to your message and wouldn't have written mine if I had seen yours first. My message was totally independent of what you wrote, not in response to it and not meant to be insulting to you.

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