Course Outline

Goal

The curriculum is designed to give students the knowledge necessary to understand the functions of a medical billing and coding specialist in the real world and the systems, such as ICD-10, as they relate to the functions of the medical billing and coding specialist.

Overall, the program seeks to develop students in the general approaches to the knowledge necessary for the medial billing and coding specialist including skills training, medial terminology, insurance and medical billing terminology so that students may work effectively in the field and engage in the intellectual work of the discipline.

Learning Objectives

Over the course of each of our programs, students will:

• Learn to understand the anatomy and physiology of the human body
• Develop a strong foundation in medical terminology
• Identify common medical prefixes, roots and suffixes
• Learn common abbreviations in a medical context
• Understand the importance of law and ethics in the healthcare field (HIPAA, doctor/patient confidentiality, patient bill of rights, health insurance fraud, health insurance abuse, embezzlement, subpoenas, etc.)
• Develop an understanding of the association between the need to secure reimbursement and the delivery of medical services
• Understand medical billing systems
• Post and submit claims
• Communicate with healthcare providers and insurance companies regarding billing
• Perform accurate data entry
• Manage health insurance data
• Track payments and reimbursements
• Appeal denied claims
• Apply the correct coding to medical diagnoses and treatments for billing purposes
• Demonstrate the ability to use medical software and electronic health records
• Transfer procedural and diagnostic coding knowledge to both paper and electronic claim forms
• Participate in an externship (on your own if you choose) to gain work experience

Instructional Materials

Students must have access to the use of a computer with working WiFi, microphone and video camera for each class which will be taught using a video conferencing method such as Zoom. Students must have a quiet place to work from during class, as the course is interactive for the purpose of classroom engagement and a deeper level of instruction and learning. TNPTI’s Online Medical Billing and Coding course uses synchronous learning, meaning the course is offered in real time with a live instructor.

Attendance Requirement

The TN Professional Training Institute’s Online Medical Billing and Coding program is an intensive, accelerated, 80 Hour program. Although we strongly encourage students to attend all 80 hours, students are allowed one (1) absence as long as they contact their instructor(s) at least one (1) day prior to the missed class. Arriving late or leaving early may be considered an absence. Students are also required to schedule a make-up day (convenient for both the student and instructor(s)) to review and practice missed materials. Students who miss more than one class will be dismissed and may be moved to the next session at the discretion of the instructor.

Grading Policy

Students are required to maintain an 80% average to pass this course. If an 80% average is not maintained, students may have to repeat materials before completing the course.