The goal of this program is to prepare graduates for entry level positions in the growing field of health care office professionals. These are rewarding careers that not only have good advancement potential but allows graduates to do the kind of work that helps other people.

Graduates of this program will be prepared for positions such as: medical office assistant, receptionist, medical coding specialist, medical insurance biller, reimbursement specialist, and other support positions in medical offices, hospitals and other health care organizations. This program also prepares graduates to take the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) exam, the Certified Billing and Coding Specialists (CBCS) exam for the National Healthcare Association (NHA), and the Certified Coding Associate (CCA) exam for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

This two semester program incorporates the basics of working in a health care office and advanced coding and reimbursement skills.

In the first semester students learn the basics of working in a medical office setting. Subjects include: Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Office Procedures, Medical Office Coding I, and Human Diseases.

The goal for this semester is for students to be prepared to take the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) exam for the National Healthcare Association (NHA).

Students also learn valuable career planning and business communications skills.

Medical Terminology

• Understanding of medical terminology as it relates to the human body.
• Medical prefixes, suffixes, and roots.
• An overview of anatomy, symptoms, diseases, operations and much more.

• An introduction to the systems of the human body.
• Structures and functions of these systems will be emphasized.
• Unifying principles such as nutrition, sex, genetics, environment, exercise and the aging process.

• The duties of a medical office assistant's career.
• How to perform administrative functions such as: records management, medical communications, telephone triage, preparing patients charts, scheduling appointments.
• An introduction in to patient billing and processing insurance claims.
• Practice management and finances.
• Students learn how to use MediSoft for Windows software.

• Overview of commonly available software tools used in health care.
• Introduction to encoding tools and computer assisted coding software used in health care data processing today.
• Introduction to the electronic health record process and medical office database management software found in U.S. healthcare delivery.

• An introduction to basic diagnostic coding and the characteristics and conventions of ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM.
• Other diagnosis coding systems or code sets (DSM-IV, ICD-0, etc.).
• Focus is placed on using diagnosis codes correctly and official coding guidelines.
• Includes extensive practice coding exercises.

• An introduction to basic procedural coding and the characteristics of CPT-4 (Current Procedural Terminology), HCPCS (Health Care Financing Administration Common Procedure Coding System) Level II codes, ICD-9-CM Volume III, and ICD-10-PCS.
• Focus is placed on correct code assignment, and includes extensive practice coding exercises.

• Introduction to the effects on the body of systemic diseases.
• Diseases of the various body systems and their treatment.
• The influences of hereditary factors, external physical agents and infectious mechanisms.
• An overview of principles of pharmacology and purposes of selected laboratory tests.

• Interviewing Skills.
• Job-Hunting Techniques.
• Effective Verbal Communication.
• Business Correspondence.
• Telephone Skills & Etiquette.
• Business Presentations.

In this semester students learn the advanced skills in medical coding, billing and reimbursement. Subjects include: Medical Office Coding II, Pharmacology, Medical Reimbursement, Medical Law & Ethics, and more career planning skills.

The goal for this semester is for students to be prepared to take the Certified Billing and Coding Specialists (CBCS) exam for the National Healthcare Association (NHA), and the entry-level Certified Coding Associate (CCA) examination conducted by the American Health Information Management Association.

• Terminology for medication ordering, dosing, administration; National Drug Code (NDC) numbers.
• Effective use of drug references and classes of drugs as they relate to body functions.
• Desired effects, side effects, drug-drug interactions
• Common drugs of each class; controlled substances, common drug regiments, and herbal medicine.

• A continuation of medical coding and the characteristics and conventions of ICD-9-CM, CPT-4 and HCPCS coding.
• Essential for providing students with the knowledge to ensure maximum appropriate reimbursement for reported healthcare services.

• Federal, state, private health insurance plans including managed care systems.
• The processing cycle of health insurance claims, health insurance terminology, reimbursement methodologies for professional services, and proper completion of the 1500 billing form.
• An overview of billing systems for hospitals, nursing homes, home health care, hospice, surgical centers, and rehabilitation centers including proper submission of UB-92 billing forms.
• Emphasis is also placed on the definition of data items and edits to support facility billing practices; the examination of billing system management reports; and legal issues related to reimbursement processing.

• Understanding of healthcare delivery systems.
• The organization of healthcare delivery in hospitals, mental health and ambulatory care centers, home health agencies and nursing homes.
• Educational preparation and responsibilities of health care professionals.
• Government regulations and licensure/regulatory agencies.

• Understanding of health information department and record systems.
• Healthcare data sets, primary versus secondary records.
• The content and uses of hospital and physician clinic patient records.
• Documentation requirements and the evaluation of documentation completeness and quality.
• Record storage and retrieval systems (manual and electronic).
• Privacy, confidentiality, security, HIPAA requirements, release of information, and professional ethics.

• A continuation of basic diagnostic coding and the characteristics and conventions of ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM coding.
• Case studies using more complex code assignments with ICD-9-CM and PPS application examples for ICD coding (DRG, RUGS, HHRG, etc.)
• Compare contrast ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM code assignments and conventions.
• An introduction to Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED).
• An overview of its role in the health care delivery system as the basis for an electronic health record - outlining its relationship to the administrative code sets currently used for billing and statistical reporting; and includes definitions for crosswalks and maps used in the clinical coding process.

• A continuation of basic procedural coding and the characteristics and conventions of RBRVS, and APCs.
• Case studies and more complex code assignments using CPT and HCPCS Level II codes.
• Procedure coding for inpatients (ICD-9-CM Volume III or ICD-10-PCS - compares and contrasts the two systems at an introductory level).

• Provides the student with coding practices in a hospital, physician's office, clinic or other healthcare setting with directed projects common to a clinical coding specialist on the job.
• Students will practice with clinical code assignment and billing methodologies, including projects and cases that replicate typical coding tasks in a physician's office, hospital outpatient clinic, ambulatory surgery, and hospital acute care settings that employ coding professionals.
• This practicum will focus on building speed and accuracy using actual medical records.

• Interviewing Skills.
• Job-Hunting Techniques.