Lately, I've had a desire to get into the medical field as a coder. Unfortunately, I have no medical experience, and honestly, no funds to enter a program.
Initially, my plans were to study in preparation for the CPC exam through the AAPC, but as I did further research I noticed that I didn't meet the requirements, which was completing a program or being in the field for at-least a year. I headed over to the AHIMA site, and looked at their certifications and found the CCA, which is a Certified Coding Associate, and saw the only requirement for you to have is a high school degree. It's an entry level certification, and with luck, you may get to enter the field with it, but there are no guarantees, especially in this economy, however, I think it's worth a try and would look good on my resume.
So thing is, I want to teach myself. With so many free resources on the internet I don't see why I can't take advantage and learn what I need to know without the spending thousands on a program. My first resource will be Universal Class.
https://www.universalclass.com/i/subjects/healthcare-fitness.htm
There are several courses on here. Courses for coding, medical terminology, medical billing, anatomy etc. To some, this may not be a free resource, but to me it is through the local library. Not sure if it is accessible for free for everyone in every city, but if you are in the city of Atlanta and have a library card through the Atlanta-Fulton Library System, then this is accessible to you. If you are not, then try checking with your local library.
I also plan on using youtube as a resource. With a little searching, I found an easy to follow youtube channels on Medical Terminology, which will be of use for the CCA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbApGCaJhDE&list=PL20C0A0481C0EBECA
Lectures on Anatomy and Physiology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9WtBRNydso&list=PLA4BCBFB104AF8055
Lecture on Financing and Reimbursement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PVSYPDcBOo
Hospital Billing Lecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5VJHmY-9uU
HIPPA 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahEW1xEKz0Y
The ABC's of Medical Billing and Coding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rf7NxBkj9c
Playlist on ICD-9 Coding Guidelines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sert4jvR2LM&list=PLBKwIYw7SmUEOAvNmQtGiMYxTQJILXOgB
For books, I plan on visiting local Goodwills and Thrift stores to see what I can find. Not to mention, looking for PDF's online.
There are still so many resources, especially on youtube, but this will be a start for me. If anyone has taken the CCA and would like to add resources, or subtract resources from this list, then please let me know if I'll be doing too much or too little lol.
This will be my start. Hope it's helpful.
oh wow,I admire your determination and how you pull all the resources to prepare yourself. I was curious to know where you are now; if you passed the exam and get a job by now.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I didn't follow through with it. Not sure what happened at the time, but I hope that this was helpful to you and other readers out there. Thanks for asking.
DeleteThis is exciting. I'm 26 and have a bachelor's in art. I'm hoping to change careers to medical coding without taking on any more student loans. This will be so helpful for self-studying.
ReplyDeleteHope it was helpful.
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