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Is Andrews the ONLY school recommended?? - teadrinker

Posted: May 26, 2012

I've read so much on this forum trying to get some good information on which school to go with, and all I can find is Andrews, Andrews, Andrews! How can it be the only school that anybody seems willing to recommend? Is the forum just overrun with Andrews students or is it truly the only school that anyone knows of that prepares you for the CCS exam upon graduation? How can that be? And believe me, I'm not criticizing the school or anyone for their opinion, I just find it hard to believe that no other school compares.

It does appear to be the only school that prepares or the - CCS

[ In Reply To ..]
How can that be?

The fact that a school says it teaches "coding" does not mean they teach the SAME coding. That will be difficult to understand if you are not a coder. Even if you are a coder, you still might have difficulty with it unless you have a clear understanding of the difference between inpatient and outpatient coding. They are very different.

The CCS exam covers inpatient coding at mastery level. Few programs have been successful in teaching that. Most do not include it at all. Others teach only academic, generic or one-size-fits-all overview coding, expecting students to learn the rest of it on the job.

AAPC-style courses teach only outpatient coding. They do not address inpatient coding at all. They prepare students for AAPC exams, all of which are outpatient.

Tech and career colleges usually teach a kind of low-level medical front office billing with a general intro to office coding. Those programs often do not even prepare students for the CPC and never for the CCS.

Community college programs may teach only outpatient coding, or they may teach generic "coding," which is a hodgepodge overview of both that is tested on the CCA exam. They usually do not teach enough to pass the CCS. They will state that students may take the CCA on completion.

Andrews teaches both inpatient and outpatient coding and does so separately. Their students take both the CPC and CCS exams, skipping right over the CCA.

Absolutely not, I recommend M-TEC... - SH

[ In Reply To ..]
EDIT: Sorry, never mind! Didn't realize this was for coding/billing! /:

M-TEC does not teach coding. - Above post was an error.

[ In Reply To ..]
You edited your post to change the content, but you left the subject line the way it was -- leaving a frankly destructive statement in public view. That statement will affect readers' attitudes whether or not they see your explanation about it being an error.

You seem to be a student and may wish to support them, but this is not the way to do so.

M-TEC and Andrews have always had a congenial relationship. They have never engaged in destructive competition or subliminal attitude manipulation. To my knowledge, they have never encouraged that kind of behavior in their students. Because of that, I was rather shocked to see your post. It is not in keeping with the professional expectations either school holds.

If you recommend M-TEC, that is another good reason to edit the subject line. It is bad advertising for them. What are they teaching now if their students can read all the way through something that clearly references two different professional organizations and several different credentials in coding, identifies two different kinds of coding, does so on a coding board, and still have no idea that it is talking about . . . coding?

The subject ine of your post discredits M-TEC, not Andrews. You might want to edit it to say something like "Error."

AHIMA and AAPC - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
AHIMA and AAPC also offer good programs, as does Career Step. If you do your work and study, you'll be prepared to sit for the exams regardless of the program. Some people even do independent study or on the job training and pass the exams. Andrews is heavily represented in this forum and naturally their students recommend it.

Are you speaking from experience and industry knowledge? - I am.

[ In Reply To ..]
Your opinion is not based on fact. You seem to think that all of these programs teach the same thing, which is exactly what was warned against.

Again, the expectation is that anyone teaching coding is teaching the same thing. But, they are NOT teaching th same thing. They don't even claim to do so.

There are two differences. One is the TYPE of coding being taught . . . outpatient or inpatient. These are very different. If you, yourself, do not understand the difference, you are not qualified to offer an opinion on this.

The other is the level to which the course teaches. If you do not know what is tested by the exams, and how that relates to what a course teaches, you are not qualified to offer opinions on it.

Yes, absolutely, it is possible to self-study and pass the exams. It is not likely, though, unless you have an IQ of 160 and someone providing guidance on what to study.

Yes, AAPC courses are great, but they only teach outpatient coding. If that is what you need, so much the better, but if you do not already have a job in coding, you need to look at all the new CPCs on the AAPC boards who cannot find a job.
Do you need this credential? Yes, but you need a CCS, too.

Yes, AHIMA's course is great, but they tell you right up front that they have NO instructor support whatsoever and that you will be qualified for only the CCA exam when you finish. And it is still a pricey option. I do not know anyone who has finished it, although there must be some grads smewhere.

Yes, AHIMA college programs are great, but they can take a year of prerequisites and 2 to 3 years to complete a 9-month course or far longer if all they have is an RHIT program. They can be very expensive, have completion rates of less than 25%, and more than half of those who complete will never pass the RHIT exam, much less the CCS. They do not claim to prepare students for more than the CCA, either. The failure rate on that is about 40 to 50%.

As for the other school and those like it, well, of course you can do extra, outside work on your own, buy outside books and materials, hire tutors, plan on learning on the job, and just know deep in your heart that YOU will SUCCEED where no one else has because you really, really deserve it. It is WORTH it to do all that extra work because you can save a couple hundred on tuition. It is WORTH the extra work to teach yourself without instructors because instructors might correct you or explain things and that would make you feel like you were in high school again and you would HATE that. You don't CARE that they only teach to the CCA because you know that YOU will be the exception who passes the CCS and you will have the satisfaction of showing everyone just how wrong they were. And you absolutely do not believe the people who tell you otherwise because the rah! rah! stuff and your complete lack of financial smarts blinds you.

If any of that appeals to you, then that is a great choice for you. I would not choose that over a school that simply teaches to both the CCS and CPC, requires no outside work or on the job experience, provides everything needed, has certified instructors, and has decades of excellent reputation, does not leave anyone with loan debt, and provides lifetime support for grads.

My take (not yet a student, just researching) - MTLC

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been looking at boards and forums and school curriculums for over a year. What has sold me that when I do take a coding course it will be Andrews is because of the style of teaching. They don't just provide knowledge but teach the process. For instance, they make a student write down the steps they went through to find an answer, then they can correct any flawed reasoning. I LOVE that! I wish my algebra teacher had done that in high school (sigh), but I digress.

I have been following the AAPC forum for a long time and I am amazed at the number of people who have barely passed their CPC, can't formulate coherent thoughts and wonder why they didn't get a job.

I want the confidence when I finish schooling that I actually know how to code, not just pass tests. I think Andrews does that.

As an aside, I used to do recruiting part time years ago for an MT company. For a while we refused to test any new graduates of MT courses. We started to notice, however, that graduates of Andrews school for MT were getting jobs as soon as they finished, so we decided to put the word out we would test them. It was amazing how well prepared they were to do acute care work!

With that experience in mind, and no other courses that I have seen that even come close to what Andrews provides, I highly recommend them just as an observer. And I have no stake in it - at least not yet!

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