Medical Billing & Coding
Certificate of Specialization
This program is designed to prepare students for careers as Medical Billing and Coding specialists. It includes various foundation courses for healthcare professionals, as well as specialized courses for insurance billing and coding. Students will develop skills and knowledge to translate diseases, conditions, and procedures into numerical designations as needed for appropriate reimbursement. A supervised externship in clinics, insurance companies, or other medical facilities provides experience to prepare students for entry level positions in a healthcare setting. This program requires a minimum of four quarters for completion. It may also be completed on a part-time basis.
Program Prerequisites
Students entering the Medical Billing and Coding program are required to take a placement test for reading, writing and mathematics readiness. Please refer to specific course outlines for appropriate placement scores. Prior to placement in externship, students will need to submit a completed application packet to the office of Records and Registration.
Requirements include: - Completed application.
- Purchase of malpractice insurance which is available from the cashier in the HSS Building.
- Signed Confidentiality Statement.
- All students will be required to request a Criminal History Information Background Check. A student who cannot participate in patient care delivery in clinical settings during externship based on a positive background inquiry check will not be able to successfully complete the program.
- Additional requirements including titers for chicken pox and/or measles may be compelled by certain extern sites.
Program Outcomes
Upon completion of this program, successful students will have demonstrated the ability to apply their skills and knowledge in the following ways: - Demonstrate the ability to code and bill accurately, ethically and assertively.
- Accurately apply billing and coding principles to optimize reimbursement.
- Demonstrate the ability to research and explain insurance coverage to patients and their families.
- Handle all components of claims processing efficiently.
- Effectively manage patient accounts for billing.
- Accurately prepare claims for submission to insurance companies in hard copy or electronically.
- Demonstrate understanding of the requirements of various health plans and submittal forms.
- Enter demographic data accurately in various software programs.
- Effectively demonstrate professional behavior as needed in the workplace.
Gainful Employment Program DisclosureCost of Program |
| Tuition & fees: | $ 5,151 |
| Books & supplies: | $ 3,500 |
| Total cost of Instruction (does not include room & board): | $ 8,651 |
Length of Program |
| Intended time to complete: | 4-5 quarters |
| % of graduates who completed on time: | 31% |
Employment |
| Jobs related to this program: | SOC: |
| Billing, Cost, and Rate Clerks | 43-3021.02 |
| Medical Secretaries | 43-6013.00 |
Job placement rate: |
75% |
Debt |
| Median program graduate debt from: | |
| Federal loans: | $0.00 |
| Private educational loans: | N/A |
| Institutional financing plan: | N/A |
% of program graduates who took educational loans: |
14% |
| % of our students successfully repaying federal loans: | 100% |
Contact
Course List
| Required Courses | Credits |
| BSTEC | 110 | Beginning Keyboarding | 3 |
| CIS | 150 | Survey of Computing | 4 |
| MEDA | 110 | Anatomy and Physiology* | 5 |
| MEDA | 111 | Pathophysiology for Med Assisting* | 4 |
| MEDA | 112 | Med Law, Ethics and Bioethics | 3 |
| MEDA | 114 | Coding/Alternative Health Settings* | 3 |
| MEDA | 115 | Computers in the Medical Office* | 4 |
| MEDA | 116 | Pharmacology for Reimbursement* | 2 |
| MEDA | 117 | Healthcare Customer Service | 3 |
| MEDA | 118 | Ten-Key Skills | 1 |
| MEDA | 120 | Medical Office Procedures I* | 4 |
| | |
| MEDA | 162 | Medical Terminology* | 5 | |
| or the following two courses: | |
| MEDA | 160 | Medical Terminology I* | 3 | |
| MEDA | 161 | Medical Terminology II* | 3 | 5-6 |
| | |
|
| MEDA | 163 | Medical Insurance Billing* | 3 |
| MEDA | 164 | Coding in Outpatient Settings* | 3 |
| MEDA | 180 | AIDS/HIV/Blood Borne Pathogens | 1 |
| MEDA | 205 | Medical Claims and Coding* | 2 |
| MEDA | 213 | Externship for Billing and Coding* | 6 |
| MEDA | 214 | Human Relations for Billing/Coding* | 2 |
| OLRM | 220 | Human Relations in the Workplace | 3 |
| PE-ED | 109 | Basic CPR | 1 |
| Total Credits Required | 62-63 |
*See course description for prerequisite.
Source: 2013-2014 Olympic College Catalog, Gainful Employment 11/14/11
