Medical Coding/Billing
Certificate Program
Students pursuing programs in the medical office laboratory area are required to complete an Essential Functions form prior to registering for courses
This major is primarily designed for job preparedness. Students who are considering transferring to a baccalaureate institution should be aware that decisions on transferability of courses are made by the baccalaureate institutions and differ from school to school. Students should contact the Transfer Services Office early in their academic program to determine which courses will transfer to the college of their choice.
Health Sciences
Founders Hall 112 • Phone 215-968-8353 (option 3)
Curriculum Code No. 3174
The Medical Coding/Billing Certificate program prepares graduates for positions as ambulatory care coders (Current ICD Curriculum, CPT/HCPCs), as well as billers, patient accounts representatives, and other support positions in medical offices, hospitals, and other health care facilities. Upon program completion, graduates are qualified to take the Certified Coding Specialist - Physician's Office - National Certification Examination conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) National Certification Examination conducted by the American Academy of Professional Coders.
Graduates of this program are able to:
- Identify diagnoses and procedures provided in patient information;
- Assign appropriate diagnoses and procedure codes for patient care, population health statistics and billing purposes;
- Integrate information for cost control, quality management, statistics, marketing, and planning;
- Monitor governmental and non-governmental standards;
- Design system controls to monitor patient information security; and
- Communicate effectively with patients, members of the health care team, and billing offices, both face-to-face and via telehealth.
HITT285-the clinical externship- is scheduled Monday through Friday during the day. There are no weekend or evening clinical site hours. Students must complete a total of 120 hours, with a minimum three-day-a-week availability recommended.
Prior to Externship placement, students must submit (at their own expense):
- Requests for federal and state background checks
- Child Abuse History Clearance Form
- Certification of Health Status
- Certification in CPR: Health Care Provider (AHA-BLS)
- A mandatory 10-panel expanded opiates drug screen to be completed no sooner than 30 days before the start of the externship.
Certificate Requirements
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| BIOL115 Basic Human Anatomy B | 3 |
| COLL101 Orientation to College | 1 |
| HITT105 Legal Aspects of Health Information Technology | 3 |
| HITT190 Introduction to Health Information Technology | 3 |
| HITT217 Medical Insurance & Reimbursement B | 3 |
| HITT285 Medical Coding/Billing Externship C | 3 |
| HITT297 Medical Coding B | 3 |
| HITT298 Advanced Procedural Coding B | 3 |
| HITT299 Advanced Diagnostic Coding B | 3 |
| MEDA120 Medical Terminology A | 3 |
| MEDA140 Keyboarding and Document Processing A | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 31 |
Since the individual circumstances and backgrounds of students vary, all students planning to complete this certificate program must meet with their assigned academic advisor to develop a planned sequence of courses to meet their individual needs.
Recommended Semester Sequence
Fall I
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| BIOL115 Basic Human Anatomy B | 3 |
| COLL101 Orientation to College | 1 |
| MEDA120 Medical Terminology A | 3 |
| HITT190 Introduction to Health Information Technology | 3 |
| HITT297 Medical Coding B | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 13 |
Spring I
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| HITT105 Legal Aspects of Health Information Technology | 3 |
| HITT217 Medical Insurance & Reimbursement B | 3 |
| HITT298 Advanced Procedural Coding B | 3 |
| HITT299 Advanced Diagnostic Coding B | 3 |
| MEDA140 Keyboarding and Document Processing A | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 15 |
Summer I
| Course | Credits |
|---|---|
| HITT285 Medical Coding/Billing Externship C | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 3 |
A Open for credit by examination.
B Course requires prerequisite or corequisite.
C Completion of all other HITT courses and permission of the Department of Health Sciences.