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Career Step and AHIMA coding programs - Locust55

Posted: Apr 29, 2010

What is your experience with either of these schools in terms of relevance, quality of instruction, materials used, preparation for exam and coding on-the-job, responsiveness of the school? I'm considering both and would really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!

Call and Discuss The Coding Field With Them - One Way To Find Out

[ In Reply To ..]
Of course AHIMA has people who know the answers. What you need to find out is, does the course make knowledgeable coding experts available to you while you are taking the course. Does the person who enroll you know anything about coding, or is it just a salesman. Can they answer specific questions regarding the coding industry? You are the one who needs to interview the schools by phone as part of the process of choosing a school.

What are the instructors' qualifications? What kind of work experience do they have? Will your work be graded by a machine or a person? Will you receive detailed explanations of what you did wrong, or will they just tell you that you missed that one. Try taking a course like that and then sitting for certification. You won't know what you don't know, and that doesn't build the kind of confidence you need to sit for an exam or get/keep a job.

E-mail is a part of it and fancy glossy brochures are fine, but talk to a real person, not a machine, and you'll develop a better feel for what the people in the teaching trenches know and/or don't know.

Career Step and AHIMA coding - locust55

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have been talking to school personnel. What's missing and what I'd love to hear now is from people who actually are enrolled or went through one of these programs. I'd like the student's perspective, not just school personnel. Thanks again.

AHIMA coding - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I just enrolled in Career Step's coding program for inpatient and outpatient coding, it's the same curriculum taught at many colleges. I have not started the classes yet. Choosing the right program is based on what your needs are; what works for others might not work for you. I have some hospital coding background and the program was recommended to me by several people.

Career Step - darciad

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm enrolled in Career Step's MT program and love it. It's all online and is very sequential. Of course, it's a review for me because I was a nursing student, so I've done all this before, but it seems to be a good program. Then again, I don't know what I don't know. . .

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