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

Coding School???? - jj

Posted: Nov 04, 2010

Hi, I am looking into taking courses through a local community college for coding and wanted to know if this would be adequate enough to find a job once I have finished. It is a 32 credit hour program and stated that I would have a medical coding certificate once I completed the courses. I just don't want to spend money on a school/program that won't do me any good once I finish. I already feel I did this with my medical transcription course and don't want to waste any more money. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

community college program - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
The course alone will probably not be enough to get you a job. You need a national certification through either AHIMA or AAPC to really have a good change at getting a coding job, especially with no experience. Whether or not the program you are considering will be enough for you to pass one of the certification tests, I can't say. Do you have a list of the names of the courses included? Have you compared the cost to one of the online coding/billing courses?

Coding School - Bizzi One

[ In Reply To ..]
Personally, I would not consider a community college, and certainly agree with Rainey that you check out the comparisons between Career Step or Andrews versus a community college. You mentioned that once you take the 32-hour credit program you would have a medical coding certificate. I hope you understand the difference between a "certificate" and becoming "certified". They may sound alike, but they are different. The certificate will not equal medical coding "certification" if that is what you possibly are thinking. There is an enormous difference between obtaining a "certificate of completion" in a community college medical coding course and becoming "certified" through a professional medical association. I guess my feeling is, the "certificate" is for you to put on the wall and admire, while "certification" is where the rubber meets the road and will show the world that you are a "professional" in medical coding and something that can prove your worth (as a medical coder). Getting your codig "certification" requires more knowledge and is much more involved than getting that certificate of completion of a college course. There is much more disciplined-study to prepare for to be accomplished at medical coding and certification than compared to the certificate of completion. Maybe someone can add to this and explain it a little better. But, just make sure you understand the differences. I wish you well!!

Coding School???? - jj

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you both very much and I do understand the difference. I have looked into some of the other schools and this really seems to fit my needs the best. As far as classes go these are what are required Business English (or) English Composition I, Anatomy and Physiology for Pre-Hospital Provider, Basic Pharmacology, Computer Concepts and Applications, Medical Terminology, Special Office Procedures-Medical, Ten Key Mastery, Keyboarding II, Medical Coding I, II and III.

That coding program - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
If you already feel this fits your needs best, why did you ask for advice?

This program might look really good to you because it is what YOU think should be in a coding course and because it is what they are telling you should be there.

From my perspective, and I am a coder, you do not need English, ten key, or keyboarding. Special Office Procedures? All that makes me wonder if this isn't a medical front office ("receptionist" or "secretary") program gussied up with some coding. Instead of just going on with your education and learning what is important for coding, you are circling around to back where you were after high school, to take entry-level adult night school stuff. Again.

I also wonder if this is truly a community college. It may be a college in your community, but it appears to be a career college, not a college in the state college system. I say that because the program does not follow the content that virtually every true community college offers.

The main thing wrong with this program is the coding. There isn't enough of it. I'll bet coding I is the first half of the book and coding II is the second, and coding III is CPT. This is roughly 50% of what you should have. Coding needs to be THE FOCUS of the course, not a sideline. This is enough coding for a medical office receptionist, not a coder.

This course also has a rather sad-looking A&P course and does not offer pathophysiology at all. By now, you should know that much A&P. What you need is a better A&P course and pathophysiology.

Obviously, it's not possible to judge a program without seeing it, but my educated guess is that you will have great difficulty getting anything more than a doctor's office receptionist job after completing this program. I also think it is highly unlikely that you will be able to pass a certification exam, because most of the course time will have been spent on topics that are not tested on the exams, with very little attention to what IS tested on the exams.

This is the reason many college programs produce graduates that cannot pass a certification exam or find a job . . . the programs teach everything but coding.

You might want to continue looking for a better course. To see what course content you should have, you might look at the AHIMA online and Andrews School courses. Both of them tell you very clearly what is offered. That's not saying you need to take one of those courses, but they're just two that do tell you what they offer.

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