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AHIMA training - changing paths

Posted: Mar 23, 2011

Need some advice please. I have just started the AHIMA coding course but after doing further research, I am thinking I may want to take the CPC exam first. Does the AHIMA course prepare for taking the CPC? Would it be appropriate to do this. I think it is too late to change schools. There are so many decisions to make. I did do a vast amount of research before I chose but now I think it may be a litter harder than I first thought it was going to be, so maybe the CPC would be more appropriate before I attempt the CCA or CCS. Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? Thanks in advance.

coding certifications - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I can't completely answer your question as I haven't taken AHIMA's course but I was planning to take the CCS when I finished my coding course (Andrews), but determined that the CPC would be easier to pass, and indeed I did just pass it. I'm not sure if I could pass the CCS now or not. I've thought of taking the CCA but I don't think it carries much weight in the coding field. (I read somewhere online that it covers more billing/insurance type stuff and not much actual coding.) I'm not sure how thorough AHIMA's course is and it seems from their website they claim it only prepares you for the CCA. Of course they are not going to mention the CPC since it's sort of the competition. Sorry I can't be more help, but in short, I would aim for the CPC before the CCS. Just my opinion.

My Advice - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
I would advise you to talk with your course instructor and get some feedback. You've developed a relationship by now. He or she knows your work and can give you better information than we can, of course.

As far as the CCA is concerned, I don't think it's well received by employers.

sm - none

[ In Reply To ..]
It sure would be nice if all the people who say that were actually coders and not students or people outside of the coding field so they knew what they were talking about. CCA is a recognized credential and employers know it is the starting point. Many will hire with it and expect that once the person has experience they will try to obtain CCS. That is what it is - and yes, I am a coder. I wotk in the coding field and I started as a CCA and went on to earn a CCS after 3 years of actual coding experience.

The only ads I see are looking for a CCS - just sayin

[ In Reply To ..]
I've never seen an ad wanting to hire a CCA.

The question at hand - changing paths

[ In Reply To ..]
Okay, thanks to all for your input. Now back to the original question. Will the AHIMA coding course prepare you to take the CPC exam? Thanks to all.

What do your instructors say? They would know - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
We haven't had anyone on here who has or has not, so none of us would know.

I would look at the description of the course. - Cal

[ In Reply To ..]
The description of the course should say what the course prepares graduates to do. In other words, if the curriculum prepares students for tests such as the CCS or CPC. If it does, that will be mentioned somewhere.

Otherwise, it's true that you'll need to ask your instructor because he or she will undoubtedly know.

Would you come back and let us know what you find out?

the question at hand - Viva

[ In Reply To ..]
My instructor recommends the CCS over the CPC.

Our instructors at Andrews recommend getting both - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Getting both - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Andrews students must have a lot more money than I do....$300 for the CPC, I don't know how much for the CCS. I'll be lucky if I can afford to take one. Does Andrews pay some or all of your registration fee?

Both - but not at the same time necessarily

[ In Reply To ..]
You don't have to take them both at once. You can take one, work and save for a while, and decide if you want to take the other one or not. Personally I think it's a good idea, but not an absolute requirement. Some start with the CPC and others start with the CCS. It partly depends on the job you already have or the one you want I guess. It's a personal decision for each person.

Sorry we haven't answered, but we obviously don't know the answer. - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Going by the program description -- - It should

[ In Reply To ..]
Going by the program description, it should prepare you for the CPC. Maybe not really well, but enough. You might want to take a CPC review class from your local AAPC chapter. That will tie it all together for you. If you do not pass the exam on the first try, you'll have a year to take it again at no additional charge.

I am concerned by your statement that this seems harder than you thought. You appear to be downgrading your expectations for yourself based on your experience in this course.

That bothers me a lot, because I really hate when educational programs do that. It's a natural thing with college-type programs because they are kind of forced to grade on an A,B,C,D,F scale with only a small number of students getting A's and some people having to get C's, D's, and F's. The school can't very well make sure that everyone succeeds astoundingly well because administrators and accrediting agencies would assume the program wasn't doing its job of eliminating the unworthy. And they have to eliminate people in order to keep the market from being so flooded with job-ready experts that salaries drop.

I am discouraged on your behalf, because you do not seem to be unintelligent. If you can do MT, then you can code and you are likely to be better at it than the average person.

While I don't think everyone is cut out for coding, I do not think the problem is YOU. You should be able to succeed in any kind of coding.

I took college coding courses after I was an experienced, certified coder, and if I had tried to learn coding that way, I would have given up entirely. I cannot imagine that anyone could learn to code from those online classes, and in my classes the only people who did well turned out to be coders. The dropout rate was astounding and the school thought it was appropriate. It was just the way it was supposed to be.

This may help you understand why some programs do not seek various stamps of approval from organizations and accrediting bodies. It isn't that they are inferior, but that they don't buy into the tradtional academic mold.

I don't know where you are in that course, but if it is that discouraging I hope you are close to the end. Telling you that it isn't YOU might be what you need to know in order to finish. I'm sorry that you feel you can't switch programs now, because I know instructors who would love to show you how good a coder you can be.

AHIMA testing - changing paths

[ In Reply To ..]
Sorry,but I have no instructors although I am sure there are recruiters at AHIMA who could answer my question. Just thought that maybe there was someone out there who had completed the course and knew. This is the real question. I do not know what the CPC test content is, so I just wanted to know if I would be able to take it with what they give you in the AHIMA course. Thanks to all who took the time to answer,

a suggestion for you - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I used Carol Buck's book called CPC Coding Exam Review which contains a couple practice tests along with a lot of review material. I just took the CPC 2 weeks ago and while the real thing was a little bit harder than the practice test, it would give you a good idea of what to expect. Also AAPC sells practice exams but I thought they were a bit expensive, so I didn't get any of them. But still it might be worth it to see if you prepared and what to expect.

Is the Carol Buck buck one of the books you used at Andrews? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Carol Buck book - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
No, it was not part of the Andrews course. I just obtained it on my own to see what the practice tests were like.

Well, if you don't have instructors, I would ask whoever answers the phone - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
They definitely should have someone on the phones who knows the answer to that. They should know if any of their graduates have taken the exam and if they were successful.

Can you also talk to some of the graduates and find out?

AHIMA - jm

[ In Reply To ..]
It looks like the AHIMA course includes both ICD-9 and CPT coding. If you want to strengthen your knowledge after the course, supplement it with what you think you would need for the CPC. Get the basics in, then you will know what you need to know more of. OH, and I see they have Clinical Coding Workout in their books. That is excellent. It gives you both inpatient and outpatient coding scenarios to code, and explains why answers are right and why they are wrong. This will be a great tool for learning and for studying for the CPC.

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