A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

I have an AA degree in Liberal Arts from years ago - Does this count?

Posted: Nov 28, 2014

or does it need to be a specific AA degree in HIM, as far as what employers are looking for from coders with the proper certifications.

just as much as it counts towards you becoming a - rocket scientist

[ In Reply To ..]
You can put it on your resume, though.

Coding - degrees

[ In Reply To ..]
There are many different certifications and educational levels that employers look for in their coders. I happen to have an AAS in health information technology. There are certificate programs as well. I believe both AAPC and AHIMA offer coding basics programs that are ways to get into coding. They are all different. You will need to research what bests fits your needs. Also some facilities have different educational preferences and requirements as well.

I think what the poster is asking is - ...

[ In Reply To ..]
if she goes through an AHIMA approved certification program and gets her certification (i.e. CCA, CCS, etc.) will her AA degree help towards her getting a job, even though it isn't an AA degree specifically in HIM.

An AHIMA-approved program is NOT required for - that.

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, her degree will help.

However, be advised that it is NOT necessary to attend an AHIMA-approved program for the CCA or CCS. It is only necessary to attend a course that contains certain material. By

The COURSE does not provide the certification. You get a certificate of completion from the course. You have to take AN EXAM to get a certification.

Ou

What you need for coding - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
Your degree will always help you. No degree is ever wasted. You did it and it is yours forever. Employers respect it, no matter what.

You don't need a degree for coding, though. You can take a quick AAPC-type course, or even teach yourself, then take the CPC exam. You would be employable with that. If you take a longer course which includes certain subjects, you could also qualify to sit for the AHIMA CCS exam, which would make you very employable. (The AAPC course, the AHIMA Coding Basics course and some college programs do not qualify for the CCS. Some college programs do, and so does Andrews School.)

It is not necessary to do a whole RHIT or RHIA program for coding. Since you have some of he coursework, you might not have to do much more than the subjects in the HIT major. If you decide to go that route, have your degree evaluated for transfer credit by the schools you are considering.

Be aware that hospitals are not the only employers of coders and that pretty much only hospitals look for AHIMA credentials. Everyone else does mostly outpatient coding and affiliates with the AAPC because they focus mostly on physician services, i.e., outpatient, coding.

There have been several recent discussions about this, so look below for a couple of months.

VERY helpful! - Thank you!

[ In Reply To ..]
Was looking into Andrews. Also have 10+ years Transcription/Quality experience. Thought this might be the next natural step in my career

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