Medical Coding Specialist Certificate

This certificate program was created to provide education for an entry-level position into an acute care hospital, ambulatory care facility, physician's office, long-term care facility, or other health care setting. The Medical Coding Specialist Program at Santa Barbara City College is approved by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Professional Certificate Approval Program (PCAP).

Students who earn the Medical Coding Specialist Certificate are eligible to sit for the Certified Coding Associate (CCA) examination given by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). The certificate program may also help you prepare for the Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Certified Coding Specialist - Physician-Based (CCS-P), or Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) examinations.

As a Medical Coding Specialist, you are a valuable member of the health information team. Medical Coding Specialists ensure that valid codes are applied to medical diagnoses and procedures in order to facilitate reimbursement, analysis of patient outcomes, and research. Successful completion of the program provides you with a working knowledge of:

- Patient clinical record content, both inpatient and outpatient
- Physiological changes and altered functions in the human body resulting from disease processes.
- ICD, CPT/HCPCS diagnostic and procedural coding systems, and common coding errors.
- Components of fee setting, which optimize reimbursement based on insurance specifications such as: Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS), Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs)
- Basic pharmacological terminology and concepts, drug categories and their uses, mechanisms of drug action, dosage forms and routes of administration.
- Data quality impact and characteristics, including validity, reliability, completeness, legibility, currency, timeliness and accessibility.
- Encoders and groupers, their benefits and limitations.
- Legal aspects of heath care, confidentiality requirements.
- Microcomputer applications and topics related to computers in health care.

Courses in the Medical Coding Specialist Certificate Program are offered totally online; all course content and exams are delivered online. Students interested in pursuing an online education must be highly motivated, independent learners and possess excellent organizational and time management skills. Students must have email and high-speed internet access. No on-campus attendance is required. As such, students must be familiar with use of the internet, email, uploading and downloading files, and various common word processing programs.