This course teaches ethical and legal responsibilities for health care
professionals. It also provides an overview of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA laws are standards and regulations regarding the control and use of health information. Topics include confidentiality, ethics, health care legislation and HIPAA privacy regulations.
This course teaches the student how to prepare billing documents and determine which reimbursements, if any, need to be accounted for. The student is taught how to make contact with various insurance carriers and patients for the purposes of information verification. The course also deals with the paperwork involved for workers compensation.
This course teaches the student how to identify diagnostic codes used by health-care providers. These codes will then be used in the billing process to formulate invoices. Lessons are reinforced by multimedia learning tools.
Lessons in procedural coding teach the student how to use a universal coding system that uses current procedural terminology (CPT) codes. These are five-digit numeric codes published by the American Medical Association (AMA) to provide a common reference for accurately describing medical, surgical and diagnostic services (including radiology, anesthesiology, and evaluation/management services of physicians, hospitals and other health care providers). There are about 7,800 CPT codes in use.
This prep course helps students to prepare for the medical billing and coding certification examination through the use of preparation modules, handbooks and study guides. The course also helps the student develop strategies for finding employment, and includes information about the National Healthcareers Association. Once the student has completed an accredited program and passed the medical billing and coding exam, he will have the qualifications to begin working at a health facility.