A medical coding professional has a difficult job.
They write out numeric codes that relate to patients’ surgeries, injuries, and procedures. They will also use codes when filing insurance claims or during routine office activities. The medical coding professional needs to understand the medical side of things, but they also must have a clear understanding of the business aspects as well.
For this reason, many clinics and hospitals only hire individuals who have a medical coding certification. Currently candidates can receive their coding certification through either the AAPC or the AHIMA.
The AAPC offers three separate coding certifications. The Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification is the most common. This certification is tailored towards physician services and would be the best certification for someone wanting to work in a clinic. The CPC-H certification is for hospital coders and contains a great deal more information on procedures related to hospital work. The final certification is the CPC-P certification. This certification is payee related and deals primarily with fees and the insurance side of the business.
Candidates can take the AAPC certification exams by filing an application and paying a fee. The application goes over the candidates’ academic and work history. While the certification does not require a degree in order to qualify for application, candidates are required to have at least two years of work experience prior to applying. The work experience hopefully guarantees that the individual has the basic foundation of medical knowledge to perform well on the test. The AAPC charges a $300 fee to take the exam – reduced to $260 for those who are members of the AAPC. The CPC and other exams are administered at computer-based testing centers located nationwide. This should mean that candidates will be able to schedule their exam at a convenient location nearest to them after they have been approved.
The medical coding certification exams are lengthy tests that measure a candidate’s core understanding of medical terminology, body systems, anaesthesia, radiology, and other areas of medical education. The test also asks candidates to answer questions that are detailed and relate to specific scenarios.
All of the exam questions are ‘select response’ style questions and candidates have a set amount of time to complete the exam. The CPC exam has to be finished in less than six hours time – 5 hours and 40 minutes to be exact. This gives each candidate plenty of time to mull over the 150 multiple choice questions. The CPC exam is also an Open Manual exam which means that you can take certain, approved manuals into the exam with you and refer to them as you need. Don’t rely on this as a means to pass though – looking things up in text manuals always takes longer than you expect.
The exam is broken across three core subject areas and you need to score a minimum of 70% in all three areas to pass.
The medical coding certification is good for a period of five years, at which point the coder must prove they have ongoing education credits or retake the original exam.
The AAPC regulates the coding certifications and has become the most respected coding organization in the world. Professionals who seek out the CPC, CPC-H, or CPC-P certifications will have little to no trouble finding a job in the medical industry.
Indeed, some hospitals and clinics will pay for their employees to prepare for and take this certification. If you have that opportunity, we can only recommend taking them up on their generosity as quickly as possible.
Taking the medical coding certification exam and gaining your qualification is a must if you wish to enter / or progress in this field. The good news is that those who are qualified and continue to develop are paid accordingly!
Medical Transcription is the process of interpreting and transcribing the dictation made by doctors or other health care professionals regarding patient status, treatment procedures, diagnoses, prognoses, etc. With medical transcription of dictated data from physicians, the medical transcriptionist may also edit the text that is produced by voice recognition software. Medical Transcription is the translating of dictations made by a doctor. As a result, it requires an extensive knowledge of medical, pharmacological and anatomical terms.
In the past medical transcriptionists would listen to dictations and type it themselves, but with the dawn of technology and voice recognition software, this has become unnecessary and today, for the most part, the medical transcriptionist merely edits the output of the software. However, the editing process can range from a few corrections to major changes because voice recognition software still hasn’t been perfected and probably never will be due to the wide variety of speech variations and dictating habits of health care professionals.
Aside from medical knowledge, a quality transcription requires a transcriptionist to have excellent listening skills because they must be able to simultaneously interpret dictation while typing, they must also have an exquisite knowledge of English and grammar, proofreading and editing skills, a high state of analytical skills in order to analyze and convert spoken words into meaningful writing, as well being adept in the use of transcription equipment and computers.
Medical Transcription has been seen as writing in ancient caves and in documents of lost civilizations, but still the purpose of medical transcription and the medical transcriptionist remains the same and that is to keep a record of a patient’s medical status and treatment.
However, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that Medical transcription was recognized as a profession. Initially, those who did medical transcription were labeled as typists, word processors, medical secretaries or dictating machine operators. This was and still is a highly unjustified job title for those who practice medical transcription because the profession requires a wide knowledge of medical terms. Thus, in 1999, Medical Transcription was assigned its own job classification and those practicing it were officially called medical transcriptionists.
Medical Transcription as a profession is very underground and most people might not have heard about it. However, medical transcription is an essential profession in the every growing health care industry… especially to health care staff that does not have the time to put into writing every single bit of information that they gather from patients. As a result, the demand for qualified medical transcriptionist professionals is continually growing and because the number of new procedures coming into the market doctors don’t have the time to transcribe all their findings.
Medical Transcription as a profession is very versatile as well. Medical transcriptionists, can acquire after a few years of education, work from medical transcription firms. Medical Transcription firms receive dictations made by doctors and in turn, these orders are turned over to medical transcriptionists to be transcribed.
A medical transcriptionist can also work full or part-time at home. Currently, the American Association for Medical Transcription is governing body in the United states that certifies Medical transcriptionists, although you won’t need a certification to be able to work as one, a certification form the AAMT, will surely increase you’re “market value” and credibility.
Medical transcription is no longer merely listening and transcribing the words dictated by a doctor. Medical Transcription is evolving and now requires specific education centering on medical language, knowledge of Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, medical science and procedures, medical instruments, pharmacology, laboratory instruments, laboratory test results, medical reference material techniques and many more.
Having a medical practice means that you are going to need to have a reliable way of keeping in touch with your patients. If they have problems or questions about the medical procedures, medicines, or aftercare plans, they are going to need to have a way of contacting you with their questions. You also want to make it easy for them to be able to schedule appointments and have someone to answer some of their routine medical questions. If there is an emergency, you will certainly want to be there for them. One of the best options for those who have clinics is to use a medical call center.
However, you need to make sure that the center you are using is capable of handling the type of work you need. It’s not prudent to hire just any company for this task. You need to make sure that the medical call center you choose hires employees who have HIPAA training, as well as medical knowledge to help you patients. When you are hiring a company, make sure that you research and see that they will be able to handle the job properly.
One of the most important things to consider is what type of call services they offer. Are the employees going to be able to help with scheduling appointments and routing your calls to the correct physicians? Will they have the training and ability to answer some of the simple medical questions that your patients might ask when they are calling? Can they determine if there is an emergency where they need to contact you right away? The experience of a medical call center is going to be a major factor when you are making your decision.
Another thing that you should think about when hiring is what hours the call center works. It’s simply not good enough to hire a medical call center that works 8 to 4 or 9 to 5. You need a company that is going to be able to answer your phones for you throughout the day and night, all year long, including holidays. Just because you aren’t at the clinic, it doesn’t mean that your patients don’t have needs. Round the clock service is vital.
Take the time to go compile a list of the things that you want from an answering service, and it will be much easier to narrow your choices and find the company that offers what you need.
When you hear the word “Medieval,” what images pop into your head? Perhaps you think of towering castles, dueling knights, and fair maidens. Of course, it was an era far removed from today’s doctors and nurses who wear scrubs, such as cheap urbane scrubs. However, understanding medieval medicine can give us a better understanding (and appreciation for) of today’s medical world. Here are some highlights of the period:
1. Medieval medicine included a regression in medicine
During this period, knowledge and skills regarding medical matters actually moved backwards! After the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD, Europe descended into the Dark Ages. That is where it remained for more than five centuries. Society did not train doctors, and medical knowledge from the ancient Romans’ and Greeks’ texts, became irrelevant. Everyday people often used home remedies, and sought medical treatment from their friendly neighborhood “wise men.”
2. Physicians were again trained starting in the 1000s
Doctors obtained medical knowledge through revisiting the writings of the Greeks Hippocrates and Galen, which the Catholic Church had been hoarding for centuries. Also, doctors obtained knowledge through the Muslim world, where the medical field had thrived. By the 1200s, the church had established various medical schools and universities, while all TRUE doctors required formal instruction.
3. Doctors revisited the “four humours” theory
At this time, doctors did not have the knowledge that today’s medical professionals have, regarding bacteria. Thus, a widespread belief was that God punished or tested people, through diseases.
Today, medical staff can take steps to curb the spread of infectious bacteria, such as through sterilizing instruments and wearing hygienic scrubs. However, during this juncture in medieval times, doctors reverted to the Hippocrates’ belief that a balance of the four “humours” (liquids) in people, resulted in good health.
4. Galen was king through much of the Middle Ages
During this period, many considered the works of Galen (a Greek in ancient Rome) to be flawless. Galen had developed several of the theories that Hippocrates had established. Medical schools and universities often taught his theories as factual, although they were frequently incorrect (they were based on the dissection of animals). At this time, the dissection of humans was quite limited, and physicians could only conduct them to support Galen’s theories! That fact alone shows the tremendous influence that Galen’s works had on doctors, during the Middle Ages.
5. Disease was rampant
Even though the Middle Ages resulted in Europe revisiting the formal training for physicians, the Black Death nonetheless wiped out up to half of the entire population of Europe! Unfortunately, medicine had simply not developed enough, to adequately deal with the situation. Society valued explanations related to spirituality, much more than those of doctors.
While the Middle Ages certainly had their dark moments and practices, they resulted in the rebirth of formal training for physicians. This era was ultimately valuable in the eventual discovery of bacteria and the link of bacteria to disease. Thanks to innovations such as scrubs, the Dark Ages will stay in the dark pas
