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CBCS Certification? - yes? no?

Posted: Mar 05, 2013

My junior college offers (in partnership with Gatlin Education, now called ed2go) an online coding and billing course that prepares one for the certified billing and coding specialist certification, offered by the National Healthcareer Association. That's a new one on me. They also have a program that leads to the CCS, but they caution that it is not an entry level program and is designed for people who are already coding. Can anyone tell me yes or no about this CBCS certification?

What that is - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
Two professional organizations, the American Association of Professional Coders (CPC, CPC-H)and the American Health Information Management Association (CCS, CCS-P)offer nationally recognized coding certifications. Those certifications are what employers look for when hiring coders.

The one you mention just isn't recognized by coders or employers. It most certainly is not recognized at all by managers who are AHIMA or AAPC credentialed. You would be unlikely to get a job in CODING with it. Maybe you could get a job in the front office of a doctor's office collecting checks, but you would be doing mostly BILLING, not coding.

Really, I do not know ANYONE who would even look at that credential on a resume. On the other hand, I know some who would NOT hire you if you had one even if you had a CPC and CCS, just because they have such a low opinion of it.

One big danger sign with that credential is that keeping it up requires paying for CBCS courses. Another is that it is offered by diploma mill career colleges whose graduates, presumably, cannot pass regular certification exams. (If they could, there would be no need for the career colleges to band together to form a company like CBCS to offer a "certification.")

The fact that a junior college offers a program is no guarantee of quality. It's very easy for them to hook in with online course providers, collect tuition, pay the course provider a portion, and "teach" courses without any teachers. It enables them to make easy money without any expense. Students sit home and work blindly through screen after screen, without qualified instructors.

The appeal to you may be that it is your nearby junior college. That makes it seem less risky and less expensive. It may actually appear to BE less expensive than schools like Andrews or colleges that teach real coding. However, what you would get from Andrews or a college teaching real coding is quite a bit different.

Andrews' program does prepare you for the CCS, as do some colleges. I cannot imagine why anyone would willingly settle for something that isn't even to the level of the CCA or CPC.

Don't let the fact that it's "your" local junior college sway you into thinking it's risk-free or quality. With online education, you can take programs from any college or university in the country. You do not need a local college at all.

I have looked at programs like that to see where their graduates are getting jobs. A lot are employed after graduation, but NOT in the job they were trained for. That means they may still be in their old jobs because they couldn't find one in the new field. That information is available to you online if the school accepts federal financial aid. Read it carefully.

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