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Medical Coding Specialist Certificate

Certificate Code 5584

Program Contacts:
QC Campus
Betsey Morthland, 309-796-5285, morthlandb@bhc.edu

This certificate is offered only at the Quad-Cities Campus.

The Medical Coding Specialist Certificate is to prepare students for employment in the health care information management area. This certificate would enable the student to be employed by hospital coding departments, physicians’ offices, health care clinics, emergency care clinics, chiropractic offices, psychiatric clinics, health insurance companies, and HMO offices. The opportunity for Internet coding work is possible after experience is gained.

The Medical Coding Specialist job entails the translation of diagnoses, procedures, services, and supplies into numeric/alpha-numerical components for statistical reporting and reimbursement. The Medical Coding Specialist can expect team working experience with medical billing specialists and medical transcriptionists and others on the health care team; this person will need special training in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology as well as a thorough understanding of CPT-4 procedure and ICD-9/10 diagnosis coding; also necessary knowledge includes an in-depth understanding of third-party reimbursement and overage policies, the review and the abstract of in-patient and out-patient medical records, the ability to utilize new coding standards, HIPPA regulations, the ability to resolve insurance carrier rejects and denials related to coding and coverage issues.

To deliver these special skills in this program, this curriculum provides both classroom instruction and hands-on experience in the form of an internship. The internship will be for one semester- minimum 15 hours a week.

Required courses for this program include: »

BE 100 Work Environment Orientation
This course is intended to introduce the facts, skills, strengths, and career goals necessary for success in the business education curricula.
2 credit hours: 2 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

BE 141 Computerized Keyboarding I
Keyboard mastery and document formatting using a current word processing software package.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

BIOL 150 Medical Terminology
Prerequisite: 83 or above on COMPASS reading test or REA 098 “C” or better.
This course presents the principles of medical word construction through identification of root words, prefixes, suffices, combining forms, and methods of building medical terms. Emphasis is placed on correct medical word spelling, pronunciation, and definition, while introducing terminology specific to various body systems. The course is intended to prepare students to classify medical information for use in medical coding, billing, and reporting.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 156 Introduction to Health Insurance
Introduce students to health insurance industry; present step-by-step procedures for generating, processing, and submitting health insurance claims to commercial, private, and governmental health insurance programs.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 200 Advanced Medical Terminology
Prerequisite: BIOL 150 “C” or better.
Building a strong medical vocabulary, emphasis on extensive medical specialties anatomy, diagnostic and treatment procedures, progress of student from word recognition to usage in medical reports.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 251 Medical Office Procedures
Prerequisite: BE 141 or equivalent.
Administration of the medical office; insurance, professional and business records.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 254 Law Liability and Medical Ethics
A careful examination of health legislation and health policy implementation. Student will become aware of legal aspects of handling information and ethics involved in management of medical information. Case studies will be used to provide problem solving.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 257 Procedure and Diagnosis Coding I
Prerequisite: BIOL 150 or concurrent enrollment.
Coding (CPT-4) (ICD-9/10) is the translation of diagnoses, procedures, services, and supplies into numeric/ alphanumeric components for statistical reporting and reimbursement.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 258 Procedures & Diagnosis Coding II
Prerequisites: BIOL 150 “C” or better, HIM 257 “C” or above, or instructor consent.
Advanced coding (CPT-4) (ICD-9/10) including surgical, in-patient, out-patient, multiple diagnoses, and procedures.
3 credit hours: 3 lecture hours; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 261 Seminar
Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in HIM 265.
Discussion of internship activities, challenges, team opportunities and problems.
1 credit hour: 1 lecture hour; 0 lab hours per week.

HIM 265 Internship
Prerequisites: Instructor consent and concurrent enrollment in HIM 261.
Supervised field program, providing work experience in offices for students enrolled in Health Information Management.
3 credit hours: 0 lecture hours; 40 lab hours per week.

Course of Study Outline
First Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
BE 141 — Computerized Keyboarding I (3)
BIOL 150 — Medical Terminology (3)
BE 100 — Orientation to Work Environment (3)
HIM 156 — Introduction to Health Insurance (3)
HIM 257 — Procedure and Diagnosis Coding I (3)

Second Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
HIM 200 — Advanced Medical Terminology (3)
HIM 251 — Medical Office Procedures (3)
HIM 258 — Procedures & Diagnosis Coding II (3)
Elective (3)

Third Semester Suggested Courses (Credit Hours)
HIM 254 — Law Liability and Medical Ethics (3)
HIM 261 — Seminar (1)
HIM 265 — Internship (3)

Minimum total hours required for Certificate (33)

Occupational Profiles

CIP Code:
SOC Code:

Cost of Attendance

Success Rates All Students Full-Time Part-Time
Completion rate at 100%
Completion rate at 150%

Job Placement Rate:

Loans

  • Median loan debt
  • Title IV loan debt
  • Private loan debt – $0
  • Institutional debt – $0