Allied Health
Certificate of Applied Science • 43 Credit Hours
The Certified Coding Specialist serves as a qualified technician in analyzing and classifying medical data. Using universally recognized coding systems (ICD-10-CM/PCS and CPT-4), the Certified Coding Specialist assigns codes to diagnoses, injuries, and procedures found in the records of patients.
The codes are then reported to insurance companies or government agencies for payment/reimbursement of patients’ health expenses, medical statistics, and research.
This program enables the student to become familiar with the coding systems, medical terminology, and medical background of anatomy and diseases that will give the student a basis on which to build. Students also have the opportunity to complete a directed practice of 60 hours in a virtual healthcare environment or healthcare setting. Successful completion of this program will prepare students to sit for the CCA or CCS exam administered by the American Health Information Association. Please refer to their website at www.ahima.org for further qualifications for taking the national certification test for CCA or CCS.
Medical Records & Health Information Technicians
2019 Median Pay
$40,350 per year
Number of Jobs
215,500 in 2018
Job Outlook
2018-2028 11%
Much faster than average employment.
For the most current salary information, please refer to the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Occupational Outlook Handbook” found online at bls.gov/ooh/.
The college adheres to an open admission policy which means applications with a high school diploma or GED are eligible for admission. Applicants with neither a high school diploma nor GED may be admitted on a conditional basis.
Certified Coding Specialists are professionals skilled in classifying medical data from patient records, generally in the hospital setting. These coding practitioners review patients’ records and assign alphanumeric codes for each diagnosis and procedure. To perform this task, they must possess expertise in the ICD-10-CM/PCS coding system and the surgery section within the CPT coding system. In addition, the Certified Coding Specialist is knowledgeable of medical terminology, disease processes, and pharmacology.
Employment of medical records and health information technicians is projected to grow 11 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations.
An aging population will require more medical services, and health information technicians will be needed to organize and manage the older generations’ health information data. This will mean more claims for reimbursement from insurance companies.
