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Coding School and certification - CG13


Posted: May 04, 2012

I am presently training in a new position at a physician's office.  I will be doing coding and billing.  I have coded in the past but I would like to go to school and become certified.  Can anyone please direct me in a good program rather on line or in the middle Tennessee area?  I have been an MT since 1986 and sadly this is a dying art.  Thank you.

Suggestion - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
If you have coded in the past, you should not need to attend school just to get certified. I would suggest that you get a CPC reiew book and review it while refreshing your knowledge on the job. Then just take the CPC exam. If you do not pass it, you have a year to take it again at no charge. That would be the mos sensible route.

Why would you think you needed a beginner course when you already know what to do? We do not study the codes and memorize them. Coding teaches how to use the code sets. If you coded previously you do not need to know that.

Coding School - CG13

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for the help. My coding has all been on the job training. I felt like if I were certified that it would be easier for me to find a job if necessary in the field of coding and maybe code from home again some day in the future. I will check out the CPC review book though and exam. Thanks for the suggestion.

Yes, certification IS neccessary now, but . . . - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
The way you are tlking about this makes it sound as though you are confusing getting a certificate of completion from a course and certification.

It is not necessary to complete a course to get a job coding. On the job training used to be more common than it is now. It is, however, necessary to have at least a CPC certification to get a job. Once you have that most employers will not care where you got the training. If you have both a CPC and a CCS, things will be much easier for you, so that is what most of us here recommend.

If your previous training was just copying codes off charge tickets or typing up bills in a doctor's office, then it was not training in the kind of "coding" we talk about here or the kind tested on the CPC and CCS exams. If you only had a smattering intro to coding, or worked in an ancillary coding job like pulling records for coders or prepping work for them or doing general assisting for them, that does not count, either. You would probably need to take a coding course in order to pass the CPC and definitely would in order to pass the CCS.


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