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Clinical Coding

Certificate of Proficiency (CP),
Accelerated Job Training

Offered through Health Professions

@ Forest Park

The Clinical Coding program prepares students for entry-level positions as clinical code practitioners. Students will learn how to classify medical data from patient records, generally in a hospital setting. The coding practitioner will review patients’ records and assign numeric codes for each diagnosis and procedure according to the industry standard classification system. Students will possess expertise in the International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) and International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) coding systems. Students will also gain preparation for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) and Certified Coding Associate (CCA) certifications. This program is approved by the Professional Certificate Approval Program (PCAP).

Required Courses

The recommended academic plan blends general education requirements with options for areas of concentration to ensure students get the most out of their certificate or degree.

Program Contact

Patricia Sherman

Email

psherman@stlcc.edu

Phone

314-644-9917

The certificate program complies with the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) coding education curriculum guidelines and provides the foundation to pursue additional study in Health Information Technology.

  • The program is approved by the Professional Certificate Approval Program (PCAP).
  • You gain hands-on learning experience in dedicated labs and classrooms, featuring a one-to-one equipment ratio, which optimizes skill development.
  • Classes are taught by certified instructors.

Evening and online courses are available. This program is geared toward students with full-time jobs.

Typical tasks

  • Gather, process, document/record information
  • Keep current with technical knowledge
  • Evaluate information to determine compliance with standards
  • Analyze data or information
  • Identify objects, actions and events and detect changes
  • Monitor and review processes, materials or surroundings
  • Solve problems

Important qualities of a medical coder

  • Analytical skills. Health information technicians must understand and follow medical records and diagnoses, and then decide how best to code them in a patient’s medical records.
  • Detail oriented. Health information technicians must be accurate when recording and coding patient information.
  • Integrity. Health information technicians work with patient data that are required, by law, to be kept confidential. They must exercise discretion and a strong sense of ethics when working with this information in order to protect patient confidentiality.
  • Interpersonal skills. Health information technicians need to be able to discuss patient information, discrepancies, and data requirements with other professionals such as physicians and finance personnel.
  • Technical skills. Health information technicians must use coding and classification software and the electronic health record (EHR) system that their healthcare organization or physician practice has adopted.

This certificate program is associated with the Health Information Management AAS program.

Students

More than one million students have attended STLCC. It’s the largest institute of higher education in the region and the second largest in Missouri.

Faculty and Staff

St. Louis Community College expands minds and changes lives every day by offering high-quality educational experiences leading to degrees, certificates, employment, university transfer and life-long learning.

Hands on Learning

STLCC has dedicated labs and classrooms, featuring a one-to-one equipment ratio, which optimizes skill development.

Flexibility

Evening and online courses are available. This program is geared toward students with full-time jobs.

Cost of Attendance

For more information on cost of attendance visit MoSCORES.

Program Career and Salary Information

Pursuant to Missouri HB 1606 (2018), information regarding the number of credit hours, program length, employment rate, wage data, and graduates employed in careers related to their program of study at St. Louis Community College can be found at https://scorecard.mo.gov/. Search using School / Program “St. Louis Community College” and choose the degree or credential type of interest.

The following limitations to the data apply - Information provided is based on the most recent cohorts available. Typically, most recent cohorts for wage and completion data are six years prior to the current academic year. Time to complete a program of study varies depending on the number of credit hours students earn per semester.

Contact Us

Hours for all campuses: Monday–Thursday 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

All Locations

314-539-5004
askus@stlcc.edu

 
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