Explore a Career in Medical Coding
Take your first step toward a lucrative career as a medical coder! In this course, you'll learn how to use the CPT manual and the ICD-10-CM to find medical codes for any disease, condition, treatment, or surgical procedure. This knowledge will help prepare you to work almost anywhere in the medical field—doctors' offices, clinics, public health facilities, hospitals, labs, nursing homes, insurance agencies, or even the comfort of your own home.
We'll go through each of the main systems of the human body—integumentary (skin), musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and male and female genitourinary—outlining the medical terminology, conditions, diseases, injuries, treatments, and procedures you'll see most often in each of those systems.
Along the way, we'll go through lots of real-world examples and coding exercises to get you using your coding tools in conjunction with your analytical skills to come up with just the right codes to describe any medical situation. In the process, you'll get all the hands-on experience you'll need to code medical insurance claims with confidence. By the end of this course, you'll know how to find your way through both the CPT manual and the ICD-10-CM manual, and you'll be well on your way to a career as a medical coder!
Course content © 2014 Portions by Penn Foster Inc. and Education To Go, a Division of Cengage Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution of any course material without prior written permission is prohibited.
Explore a Career as an Administrative Medical Assistant
Learn what it takes to have a successful career as an administrative medical assistant in the exciting and high-demand world of healthcare.
In this course, you'll master the basics of scheduling patients' appointments, surgeries, and hospital admissions. In addition, you'll discover how to create, maintain, and file medical charts. You'll also find out how to verify patients' insurance, create encounter forms (charge tickets), post charges, obtain pre-authorizations from insurers, and schedule return visits.
After that, we'll go behind the scenes as you learn how to apply diagnostic and procedure codes to patients' accounts and bill their insurance companies. Next, we'll explore additional accounts receivable tasks including posting payments and adjustments, billing secondary insurance, and following up on unpaid insurance claims. You'll also learn what a day sheet is, why it's important, and how to keep track of all your patient accounts on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.
Finally, we'll delve into the basics of keeping a medical office running smoothly—from ordering supplies to scheduling staff meetings and making travel arrangements.
If you're organized, you're a "people person," and you're interested in a secure job in the healthcare field, a career as an administrative medical assistant may be just what you're looking for. This course will set you on the path to that career and help you determine which aspect of medical information management—from patient contact to billing and coding—suits you best.
Explore a Career in Medical Transcription
Take your first step toward a lucrative career as a medical transcriptionist! In this course, you'll learn how to transcribe the most common medical reports used in both inpatient and outpatient settings. We'll review a lot of the grammar you might have forgotten since high school and apply it to the reports. This knowledge will help prepare you to work almost anywhere in the medical field—doctors' offices, clinics, public health facilities, and hospitals. With this foundation, you'll be set to advance your education so that you can work as a subcontractor for a company that outsources transcription, or you can eventually even take on your own clients—all from the comfort of your own home.
We'll go through each of the nine main report types—their formatting requirements, the components of each one, and how they are used in the clinical setting. We'll review grammar points in every lesson, pointing out important elements that will make your reports perfect. You'll also gain important clinical knowledge of major disease processes that are essential to enhance your skill as a medical documentation specialist.
Along the way, we'll download a free transcriber that you'll use to listen to dictation, and we'll cover how to use it to produce the reports in your word processor. These hands-on exercises will give you the practice you'll need to determine if this field is for you. We'll also go through the options you'll have now and in the future by developing the skills of a medical transcriptionist. By the end of this course, you'll know the basic report types, have clinical knowledge of major diseases, be able to correct grammar from dictated reports on the fly, and know the next steps you'll need to take!
Suite bundles are not eligible for partial drops or refunds. Transfers to other open sessions of the same course are available. Please refer to your school for additional details regarding drops, transfers, and refunds on Suite bundles.
About The Instructor
Jennifer Della'Zanna
Jennifer Della'Zanna graduated from Albright College in Reading, PA with a Bachelor of Arts degree. With 15 years' experience in the health care industry, she has worked as a medical transcriptionist, receptionist, medical assistant, practice administrator, biller, and coding specialist. She has written and edited courses and study guides on medical coding, transcription, and using technology in health care. She regularly writes feature articles about health issues for online and print publications. Jennifer is a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders and the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity.
Carline Dalgleish
Carline Dalgleish has worked in healthcare administration and education for more than 30 years, starting as a file clerk in the Army/Air Force American Hospital in Nuremberg, Germany on a work-study program. She began her career on the clinical side of healthcare as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) and emergency medical technician (EMT), but she soon gravitated toward the administrative medical management side—specializing in medical billing and coding, health information management, and HIPAA. She has two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree and is a registered health information administrator (RHIA). She is an AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer and the author of several comprehensive ICD-10 training textbooks. She has taught a variety of healthcare administration courses and owns an education services company.