Health Information Technology Certificate, Coding and Reimbursement Specialist

Program Description

This certificate is designed to prepare students with the necessary skills to be employed as a coding and reimbursement specialist in a variety of health care settings including hospitals, physician’s office or clinic, home health agencies, hospice, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies. ICD-9-CM and CPT coding guidelines will be examined in detail, as will insurance and reimbursement issues such as claims processing, case mix index, and reimbursement systems, (i.e., diagnosis related groups (DRGs), ambulatory patient classification (APCs), resource based relative value system (RBRVS), resource utilization groups (RUGs), case mix groups (CMG) and home health resource groups (HHRG). Students successfully completing the certificate may apply to sit for a national examination to become a Certified Coding Associate (CCA). After 2-3 years of recommended coding experience, the graduate may sit for the national Certified Coding Specialist (hospital based, CCS, physician based, CCS-P) examination. The Coding and Reimbursement Specialist Certificate program has been approved by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). 

Admission to the Program

The Health Information Technology Coding & Reimbursement Specialist Certificate program has an annual entry and courses begin in the fall semester.

Program Application Instructions

1. All prospective Health Information Technology (HIT) students who have not been enrolled at TCC within the past year must complete an application for admission to the College, submit their high school transcripts or GED scores, ACT or SAT scores (if exams were taken), and previous college transcripts to the Metro Campus Student Completion Services office at 909 South Boston, Tulsa, OK 74119.  Admission to Tulsa Community College does not guarantee admission to the Health Information Technology Coding and Reimbursement Specialist Certificate program.
2. Students should complete placement testing to establish proficiency levels in reading comprehension, sentence skills and mathematics.  Meet with an Academic Advisor to begin this process.
3. Applications to the HIT program must be completed online at tulsacc.edu/healthscienceapply by May 1.  For more information, contact the Allied Health department office at (918) 595-7002.
4. Following the May 1st deadline, students will receive additional information regarding the interview and selection process.

Program Admission Requirements

• Successful applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.0.
• An extensive criminal background check, including but not limited to a seven-year county of residence nationwide criminal history check, national sexual predator screening, Social Security check, and Medicare/Medicaid fraud screening is required by all clinical affiliates.  All Allied Health students participating in clinicals are required to complete these background checks, immunizations and a drug screening test by the Department of Allied Health office deadline prior to the first clinical rotation.

Contact Information
Program Director
Sandra Smith, M.Ed., RHIA, CCS
sandy.smith@tulsacc.edu
(918) 595-7201
Additional Information Available

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Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program you will be able to:

• Utilize your mastery of data management skills assuring accurate, reliable, comprehensive and compliant information allowing for the assessment of quality patient care, efficient resource utilization and proper reimbursement.
• Apply legal concepts related to protected health information to assure ethical use of the data (internal and external), secure exchange of information, and legitimate access and proper disclosure providing privacy and confidentiality for both patient and provider.
• Evaluate, assist with selection and implementation and utilize health information management (HIM) systems (electronic health records, encoders and groupers, specialty registries and software for other HIM functions) and report generating technologies to provide clinical and administrative data for strategic planning, informatics, data analytics and decision support.
• Identify reimbursement systems by health care setting and describe their structural design and evaluate revenue cycle management processes.
• Analyze policies and procedures related to health information management to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, as well as official coding guidelines, and through data analysis identify potential fraud or abuse activities.
• Apply your mastery of leadership and management skills to include: human resources (staffing levels, productivity and evaluations); change management; work design and process improvement; meeting facilitation; team leadership; training and continuing education; financial management, budgeting; project management; vendor/contract management; and enterprise information management.

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Careers

Search careers related to Coding & Reimbursement Specialists at TCC Career Explorer and visit TCC Career Services to learn more about our free career planning and job preparation services.

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Certificate Requirements

View a semester-by-semester course plan of study on the Coding and Reimbursement Specialist Certificate Program Map .