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CODING SCHOOL - Where to start? - December

Posted: Feb 07, 2014

Can anyone give me an idea where to start and how to choose an online class for coding? I've looked at so many and need a better idea of what the most important aspect I am looking for is? Andrews, Codingcertificate.org, Careerstep, etc. HELP please!

Question - Narrow the choices

[ In Reply To ..]
I can help after work today, but first can you tell us what kind of coding you want to do? There is more than one kind and they have different certifications. Training programs take different times, too, because they teach different things.

Also, whatever program you choose, it needs to have live, experienced, credentialed, working in a coding job now instructors. Not advisers, not a chat room.

If you don't know what kinds of coding there are, it is inpatient and outpatient. See www.ahima.org for the CCS exam for inpatient, as an example, and www.aapc.com for outpatient.

coding course - December

[ In Reply To ..]
From what I've investigated so far it looks like doing outpatient coding to begin with would be the place to start with absolutely planning on continuing learning and more certification after getting an entry level job in that capacity. I've seen comments saying inpatient is hard to get a job without experience.

Coding bridging course for MTs - OMT

[ In Reply To ..]
A recruiter gave me info on a bridging course for coding for MTs. I'm considering it myself. Here's the link:

http://www.medlineschool.com/

Advice from experienced, - credentialed coder. (edited)

[ In Reply To ..]
See the thread below, about 9 down, called "Medical Coding Education." That contains detailed information and cost comparisons for AAPC's online courses and CodingCertification.com, or whatever it is. It is the one wth the Blitz videos. (Sorry, Laureen, but my internet is really slow today, preventing an easy look.)

Since you only want to do outpatient right now, that would be all you need. However, I will point out that while it is difficult to get a job in inpatient coding, I still know people who did it. It is also going to be difficult later to find a school teaching inpatient that will not require you to repeat everything you already had. They usually have a packaged program that they can't divide up. However, if you get to that point, there is HCPro's inpatient bootcamp or learning on the job.

If it were me, I would probably choose CC.org for what you want to do. If you wanted to do inpatient as well, I would recommend Andrews. I think their students may get jobs well before finishing, once they have finished the outpatient part.

I really disagree with teaching ICD-10 and 9 at the same time. To me, that is a recipe for disaster. Believe me that it is far easier to learn ICD-9, take the CPC exam in ICD-9, and THEN make the switch to ICD-10. Frankly, I think your chance of failing the CPC are about guaranteed if you have ICD-10 floating around in your head. It is bad enough as it is ... no sense making it worse. Don't worry, switching to ICD-10 is not going to be a big deal when you do it.

It is very difficult to keep two similar things straight in your head when you are learning them at the same time. It would be like learning two languages in the same class. Hola! Parlez vous tamale? That is also why I don't think that it is a good idea to teach inpatient and outpatient coding at the same time. You end up being unable to sort them out. That is, I think, the main reason college programs that teach one size fits all have such low employment rates and such high failure rates on certification exams. There is a real advantage to learning outpatient thoroughly, passing the CPC, and then learning inpatient. There is a very good reason most hospital coders specialize in one or the other--it is hard to flip from one to the other.

I advise that you not to listen to advice from people who are not experienced, working coders. Someone who is looking for a course themselves, or is in one still, may like what they see or hear from recruiters, but they almost surely do not have the ability to evaluate quality or effectiveness.

Is a bridge program going to help? No, because AAPC licensed programs like CC.org teach med terms and A&P as necessary, and you do need to review that so that you understand what will be on the exam. It would be pretty sad if you failed by one question because of that. You aren't avoiding anything, or anything unnecessary, with a bridge. You are, if anything, increasing your chances of being a low performer on the job. If you plan to work in inpatient, you will not know enough pathophysiology to do the job, and for ICD-10, especially for inpatient procedures, you will also need much more anatomy than you have now or that is taught in most programs. Even experienced coders are having to learn more.

Bridge programs appeal to students who want to avoid having to take college A&P first. However, not all programs require that. My advice is to take one that incorporates it into the course so you can be aware of what you need for the exam. And, if you FEAR taking it because you think it will be too hard ... you need to take it because that s a huge indicator that you do not know enough.

I also encourage you to avoid instructorless programs, all of them, and programs that are strictly online. It is next to impossible to learn coding correctly on your own and there is nothing worse than learning on online screens, screen after screen, floundering around with computer-graded nonsense and error-filled material.

There may be a significant advantage to CC.org's program, because it has videos and provides the AAPC materials, as well as their own, along with instructor support.

For you, since you are going for the AAPC exam, you want a course aligned with that. CC.org is licensed to use the AAPC program, so they will be what you need.

Not the OP, but I appreciate your advice! - Considering coding (NM)

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Reposting this advice - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Just reposting these responses a question asking whether an MT with 35+ years of experience had enough med terms, etc., to skip all that ... it got deleted when someone deleted their post. Seemed a shame, since it contained good advice and had a lot of "likes."

Here they are:

I think it depends on what you mean by "med terms, etc." I have no idea what you know. Maybe it is enough. Maybe it isn't.

It is interesting that you don't think you need that, but you do think you need a coding course even though you have already taken ICD-9 coding courses. You should be able to get a book and review. If you have never had CPT, then take an AAPC licensed course. Those focus mainly on that.

I can tell you this, though. You are probably making a mistake in assuming that there is some kind of advantage or benefit in skipping what you assume is an "in-depth review" of med terms. Frankly, it isn't that much, nor is it anything that will hold you up or cost extra. You may think it will because the marketing gimmick that is selling you on skipping it -- which a number of schools use -- implies that it will hold you up. It flatters your knowledge and implies that you are somehow special and exempt.

I can tell you this, too. Speaking from experience, it did not hold me up one bit, but I still learned something from it. In fact, something I learned was on a certification exam.

I can also tell you that one MT who skipped all that because she was sooo special flunked every cert exam she took. And she is one of the loudest proponents of that kind of program.

The problem, though, isn't med terms. It is pathophysiology and detailed anatomy. Can you, right now and without looking it up, describe the vasculature of the upper arm and where the vessel names change? If not, you don't know enough for ICD-10. Can you review an inpatient stay and identify the clinical signs of complicating conditions (all of them)? If not, you don't know enough to code inpatient.

Post #2, from a coding student who got a job in coding before graduating (congratulations!):

Let me be blunt. No. Unless you have very recently taken college level anatomy, pathophysiology and pharmacology, you will need to take an indepth review of those subjects. And it will be hard. Transcription did not prepare us for this. Transcription has helped me with terminology. It has helped me with showing my supervisor that I can work on my own without supervision, and it helped get my foot in the door with my coding job. Otherwise, transcription and coding are two completely different animals.

you are the one - who will eventually choose

[ In Reply To ..]
No one can tell you what school/course you should choose. I took the AAPC course and I have been an MT for decades. There is a lot to learn and anatomy and pathophysiology is essential. I had trouble with coding cardiac catheterizations in pinning down how far the catheter went.
Coding a biopsy along with a removal is incorrect, because removing it is the biopsy.
You won't necessarily learn as an MT why the right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two lobes.
The test is not easy and is timed. I took AAPC's CPC course and later during the 150-question certification test, there were some people who finished the test pretty quickly and others who ran out of time.
You might want to decide sooner than later though, because entry level coding positions are rare. You'll also need to review what a performance based interview is. Today's interviewing process is much more involved than it used to be.
How much can you afford for a course and how soon you want to become certified should help you decide. The course awards you with a certificate of completion and the test grants you certification.

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