Medical Coding
Distance Learning Course of 12 Lessons
Course Description
Take your first step toward a lucrative career as a medical coder! In this course, you’ll learn how to use the CPT manual and the ICD-10-CM to find medical codes for any disease, condition, treatment, or surgical procedure. This knowledge will help prepare you to work almost anywhere in the medical field—doctors’ offices, clinics, public health facilities, hospitals, labs, nursing homes, insurance agencies, or even the comfort of your own home.
We’ll go through each of the main systems of the human body—integumentary (skin), musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and male and female genitourinary—outlining the medical terminology, conditions, diseases, injuries, treatments, and procedures you’ll see most often in each of those systems.
Along the way, we’ll go through lots of real-world examples and coding exercises to get you using your coding tools in conjunction with your analytical skills to come up with just the right codes to describe any medical situation. In the process, you’ll get all the hands-on experience you’ll need to code medical insurance claims with confidence. By the end of this course, you’ll know how to find your way through both the CPT manual and the ICD-10-CM manual, and you’ll be well on your way to a career as a medical coder!
Tuition & Fees
180.00 CAD
This course run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
Week One
Wednesday – Lesson 01
In our first lesson, we’ll explore the history of medical insurance and medical coding. After that, we’ll take a few minutes to get familiar with the coding books and tools that medical coders use. We’ll finish up the lesson with an important discussion about patient privacy and confidentiality.
Friday – Lesson 02
Today we’ll take a close look at how medical professionals use medical codes in the real world. We’ll get to know the common forms medical coders use and explore the different types of medical codes you’ll find in your coding books. By the time you finish this lesson, you’ll understand how the different types of codes come together on the claim form and how they tell the insurance company a complete story about any doctor-patient encounter.
Week Two
Wednesday – Lesson 03
In this lesson, we’ll take a detailed tour through the CPT manual where you’ll find medical codes for the procedures and treatments doctors and other medical professionals provide their patients. You’ll learn all about the CPT symbols, modifiers, and unlisted procedures. By the end of this lesson, you’ll be looking up your first codes!
Friday – Lesson 04
Similar to our last lesson, today we’ll take a detailed tour through the other coding book we’ll use in this course, the ICD-10-CM, which is where you’ll find the codes for any disease, illness, condition, or symptom that a patient may have. You’ll learn all about the ICD-10-CM’s symbols, formatting, and other conventions; and you’ll learn where to find external cause codes and Z-codes. By the end of this lesson, you’ll begin to practice coding diagnoses.
Week Three
Wednesday – Lesson 05
Today we’ll begin a series of lessons that will take us in depth into just one body system at a time so we can discuss specific medical coding situations for each area of the human body. In this lesson, we’ll explore the integumentary (skin) system. We’ll review the code categories for the most common skin conditions, infections, injuries, and procedures, and then we’ll practice coding cases that involve common skin problems.
Friday – Lesson 06
In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the musculoskeletal system and study some important musculoskeletal vocabulary. We’ll review the code categories for the most common muscle and bone conditions and injuries, and then you’ll learn how to code the procedures doctors use to treat common muscle and bone problems.
Week Four
Wednesday – Lesson 07
Today we’ll review the respiratory system, and you’ll learn how to code the most common respiratory conditions and injuries. After that, you’ll practice coding the most common respiratory procedures that doctors use on their patients.
Friday – Lesson 08
We’ll explore the cardiovascular system in today’s lesson. You’ll learn how to code common heart, vein, and artery conditions and diseases, and then you’ll learn how to code the procedures doctors use most often to treat these common diagnoses. And as we always do, we’ll follow up our general discussion on cardiovascular diseases and procedures with lots of coding practice.
Week Five
Wednesday – Lesson 09
In this lesson, you’ll learn all about the digestive system and the endocrine system. We’ll begin by studying some important vocabulary for both systems, and then we’ll review the code categories for the most common conditions, diseases, and injuries. After that, we’ll explore the procedures doctors perform to fix digestive and endocrine system problems. We’ll end up the lesson with some practice coding both systems.
Friday – Lesson 10
In the last of our system-specific lessons, today we’ll review the male and female genitourinary systems; and learn how to code common conditions, diseases, and procedures for both systems. We’ll also spend some time discussing maternity and childbirth and the special medical coding challenges you’ll need to consider in those cases.
Week Six
Wednesday – Lesson 11
Ready to get to know Evaluation and Management codes? Today, you’ll learn the three key components of any E/M service, and I’ll provide you with some helpful charts you can use to narrow down an E/M code range to a final E/M code. And as you probably guessed, we’ll end up the lesson with plenty of E/M coding practice!
Friday – Lesson 12
In our final lesson, you’ll find out what’s included in a surgical package and what’s not. You’ll also learn all about modifiers, and find out why medical coders use them to let insurance companies know about special circumstances. Finally, you’ll put everything you’ve learned throughout the course together by coding some practice scenarios that incorporate all of the different types of codes!
On completion of this course, you will receive one qualification:
Medical Coding Certificate of Completion
A 65% or better must be achieved in order to receive a Certificate of Completion.
About The Instructor
Jennifer Della’Zanna graduated from Albright College in Reading, PA with a Bachelor of Arts degree. With 15 years’ experience in the health care industry, she has worked as a medical transcriptionist, receptionist, medical assistant, practice administrator, biller, and coding specialist. She has written and edited courses and study guides on medical coding, transcription, and using technology in health care. She regularly writes feature articles about health issues for online and print publications. Jennifer is a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders and the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity.
This course is an online course.
A new session of this course opens each month, allowing you to enroll whenever your busy schedule permits!
How does it work? Once a session starts, two lessons will be released each week, for the six-week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends.
Keep in mind that the interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes 2 weeks after each lesson is released, so you’re encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The Final Exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the Final Exam has been released, you will have 2 weeks plus 10 days to complete the Final and finish any remaining lessons in your course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.
Requirements
The instructional materials required for this course are not included in enrollment. Please purchase and have your materials ready at the start of your course:
You’ll need access to both of the main medical coding books we’ll use in this course:
– ICD-10-CM 2016 Code Set
(2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018 edition are acceptable)
– CPT 2015 Professional Edition
(2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018 edition are acceptable)
Hardware Requirements:
- This course can be taken on either a PC or Mac device.
Software Requirements:
- PC: Windows XP or later.
- Mac: OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari (We recommend Firefox or Chrome).
- Adobe Flash Player. Click here to download the Flash Player.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to download the Acrobat Reader.
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
- Applications must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
“If you are interested in learning about medical billing and coding, you will not find a better place to begin, nor a better person from whom to learn. Thanks to Jennifer I’ve found a new career. Her knowledge, gentle coaching and encouragement were key to building my confidence and my understanding of a complicated subject. Along with my highest recommendation and appreciation, I give Jennifer five stars!!”
“This is the most interesting class I’ve ever taken. The lessons may be time-intensive, but necessarily so. The material was presented in a very orderly and understandable manner. I appreciated the input of Jennifer Della’Zanna and her staff. Jennifer was so generous, both with her time and her extensive knowledge. She made me feel like she really cared about me personally and about my future.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed this class and the instructor. Jennifer’s passion shined through her teaching, responses and interaction. I admired her patience and understanding through all of this. I am a beginner to medical coding and billing, and I felt this was the perfect introduction to help me understand the basics. Thank you very much.”
“I’m a senior citizen and this was my first online class. It has been the one of the most enjoyable ways I have spent my money since buying my first tube of lipstick! The class was interactive and those who have joined the discussions have been willing to help their fellow students in need.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the way this course was set-up and how comfortable the instructor made the course. She delivered the material in a way that made it seem as if she was right there talking to us. She pointed out extra information or “tips” as the course went along. Jennifer was supposrtive and positive with every student in the discussion areas. She comes across as patient and kind, and really seems to want her students to learn. I have recommended this class to several people already and would not hesitate to take another course from Jennifer Della’Zanna!”
“I really enjoyed this course. I loved Jennifer’s sense of humor throughout the lessons. When she knew it was going to be tough, she would alert us to that. She always made the lessons realistic and sensible. I feel as though I have gained a precise, thorough knowledge for the Medical Coding and Billing. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in pursuing a career in this field.”
“Coding is a love or hate thing, you know this. I always leaned towards the hate side, but after taking your course, I’m leaning towards like! That’s an impressive feat, and I wanted to say thanks so much for your teaching style. It was hard work, but it clicked for me.”
“I took a Medical Coding class in 2007 and took this course as a refresher. I learned so much more from this one! The instructor has an awesome teaching technique and explained things in detail that helped me understand more than I thought I would. I would definitely recommend her to anyone and everyone!”
“This course far surpassed what I expected. I anticipated a general overview and was using it to assess if I wished to continue on to a longer program. I was very impressed with the amount of well presented information and hands-on training involved. All of it gave me a wonderful feel for the nature of this career. I was very impressed and would highly recommend to anyone considering this as a career opportunity.”
“I truly enjoyed this class. I was impressed by my teacher’s knowledge of medical coding. The true test of a professional is how they can share their knowledge of a subject matter and show another person how to utilize the information they have learned into their lives. I took CPT and ICD-9-CM classes in 2004, and I didn’t learned as much information about coding as I did in this class in six weeks. Thank you!”
Medical Transcription
Take your first step toward a lucrative career as a medical transcriptionist! In this course, you’ll learn how to transcribe the most common medical reports used in both inpatient and outpatient settings. We’ll review a lot of the grammar you might have forgotten since high school and apply it to the reports. This knowledge will help prepare you to work almost anywhere in the medical field—doctors’ offices, clinics, public health facilities, and hospitals. With this foundation, you’ll be set to advance your education so you can work as a subcontractor for a company that outsources transcription, or you can eventually even take on your own clients—all from the comfort of your own home.
Medical Terminology
This course teaches medical terminology from an anatomical approach. Root terms are divided by each body system.
The origin, a combined form, and an example of non-medical everyday usage is provided for each root term. Word Associations are provided as a learning tool. Unusual and interesting information is provided in regards to each term.