Explanation - sm Posted: Nov 22nd, 2015 - 7:20 pm In Reply to: Differences in degrees - humbled
The RHIA is a Registered Health Information Administrator who has graduated from a four-year degree program with a bachelors in health information administration and past a registry examination offered by AHIMA. Those programs include coding but also include a wide variety of other subjects as well.
The RHIT is a registered health information technician who has graduated from a two year associates degree program from a community college and passed a less extensive registry examination in order to work in medical records. Those programs also include coding that typically equates to the level of the CCA. Some of these programs teach coding well and some are less successful.
The CCS is an AHIMA mastery level certification in inpatient, facility, and physician services coding. It is an extremely challenging exam that has an extremely high failure rate in the range of about 50%. The CCS-P is similar but for provider coding.
The CCA is an entry level certification in coding that basically tells employers that you are ready to begin learning on the job. It has yet to go wide acceptance from employers.
The American Association of Professional Coders also offers certification exams. The CPC was their first certification, and they have others in facility coding and other specialty areas.
For further information about certifications you should look on the individual association websites. You will also find quite a bit of information below on this board.
Your best bet for assuring employment after graduation is to attend the best possible school that will enable you to take and pass the CPC exam and the CCS exam. While it is possible to get a job with just the CPC, it is more likely that you will find a job faster and at a better salary if you have both credentials. Having both widens your field of opportunity, and it also enables you to appeal to some of the remote coding companies.
Note that nearly all schools will tell you that they "prepare" you for the CCS exam, but some of them will not be enough for you to qualify to take it without two years of coding experience. Or, they teach the material for it, but don't teach inpatient coding well enough to enable you to pass the exam without taking yet another course somewhere else.
Some schools will allow you to test out of med terms, but you do need to be aware that medical terminology is not all that you need for coding, and if you choose a course that does not offer the basic medical sciences that are required for the CCS exam, you will not be able to take it.
Noncollege coding courses do not take federal funding for Pell grants. However, you may receive a better education from some of those courses and some do offer their own payment plans. Andrews has a no interest payment plan, but I think that may be the only one. As an advantage to paying your own way through, the cost of most private coding programs is far less than you will pay doing the same work at a college. You will graduate without crippling student loan debt and with your Pell grant eligibility intact, so you will be able to apply it to a college degree later.
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