| What will you learn in a medical coding school? | | | | procedures in a healthcare facility. Also you will |
| You will learn the process of transforming | | | | learn how the healthcare system is connected |
| narrative medical descriptions of procedures, | | | | with insurance system and you will get basic |
| diseases, injuries or diagnosis into numeric or | | | | information about insurance plans and insurance |
| alphanumeric codes. Therefore, a medical coding | | | | laws. |
| school will focus on your basic knowledge in | | | | All this learning process could take two years or |
| biology and anatomy. For this you will have | | | | four years as full time study specially if you do it |
| classes like Anatomy and Physiology, Pathology | | | | during college. The length depends on the type of |
| and Diseases Process and Special Terminology. | | | | degree you will get or the type of specialization |
| Besides these, you will start learning about coding. | | | | you are aiming. But there are also a lot of |
| You will study ICD-9-CM system or maybe the | | | | proprietary schools and online courses that you |
| newer ICD-10 system according to AHIMA - | | | | can follow. You can consider online courses if you |
| American Health Information Management | | | | need flexibility especially regarding your available |
| Association. As ICD-9-CM is rather old having | | | | time. |
| almost 30 years old, most probably in the | | | | Attending a medical coding school should be |
| following years, all countries will adopt ICD-10. | | | | followed by getting one of the AHIMA certificate |
| A medical coding school also provides courses in | | | | to demonstrate your competence in this field: |
| law, regulations and ethics regarding healthcare. | | | | Certified Associate or CCA is the starting point. If |
| Your job will not be only codification but also to | | | | you aim for a higher level of certification there is |
| take decisions because coding is an important | | | | Certified Specialist or CCS and Certified |
| step for billing and all the process regarding | | | | Specialist-Physician-bases or CCS-P. |
| payments done by patient or CMS. You will also | | | | Once you finished a medical coding school you |
| receive valuable information about how to handle | | | | have a lot of job opportunities in healthcare |
| sensitive information and what laws are covering | | | | centers, hospitals or insurance companies. You can |
| this field. | | | | also look for jobs in research health institutions, |
| You will also cover software area. They provide | | | | clinics or even law companies. But once finished |
| classes about medical records or billing software | | | | the school or courses you attended, you should |
| or other software packages used in the process. | | | | never stop learning as new diseases, discoveries, |
| You will get familiar also with administrative rules, | | | | procedures, new drugs or new laws are appearing |
| how the system works and what are the basic | | | | every day. |