Don't Get Ripped Off

I disagree I and about 23 of my classmates went through a training program in Floridia, we all have been certified by NHA and actually all but 2 of us went into the field.That was about 6 years ago!!!

So from my expirence working with NHA has been very fruitful.

Johnna,

It is wonderful that you did this research and shared the results.  May I suggest that the same research be done on all the associations out there that offer "national" coding or billing credentials, even the more reputable ones such as AMBA or AAPC or AHIMA as a benchmark study for students to use as a guide when selecting certifications.

Michelle in Sandown makes an excellent point regarding NHA.

I learned from questioning the National Director of NHA (National Health Career Association) that:

In order to become a NHA Certified Instructor, one must pay only 150.00 to take one on-line course on "how to teach adults". The instructor need not know anything about Medical Coding or Transcription or have ever worked in the field as one.

I reviewed the exam that instructors give to students in the short stint training programs. A printout of the exam was given to me by a local training program instructor who administered the exam to her students recently. Of 100 questions approx. 10 were related to coding.

A coding question related to "starred procedures" was present. Starred procedures became obsolete at the end of 2002. One questions relates to the "sections" of the 2005 CPT book. We are currently using the 2008 CPT book for coding senarios and much has changed since 2005. In the exam there are no medical cases to code. And some training providers do not provide the student with an ICD-9-CM coding classification manual to own, take home, write in, dog-ear, highlight, tab or other learning mechanism one uses to recall and create a good learning foundation. One vendor in NH, after charging the student 4K to enroll into the program claims "we must keep our costs down and do not provide you with a code book, but you can use or share our outdated ones from our book library only when you are in the classroom"

What would it cost a training provider to buy a CPT and ICD9......with discounts this time of year, around 100.00 for both. So why aren't NHA students landing coding or billing positions? Physicians who hire individuals who are learning outdated coding nomenclature are guarenteed to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursement due to and face risk of OIG audits and steep fines and/or jail time. Not to mention stacks of rejected claims to deal with.

Employers want you ready to code and/or bill according to current regulations and rules. To make matters worse, the NHA Exam is exactly the study mock Exam given in the classroom. No thinking required. Just memorizing.

So when a training provider feeds you the line "our instructors are certified" or "the program is certified" dig deeper and look beyond.

Best choices: When the program is approved by either AAPC or AHIMA and the instructors are trained/approved/certified by those two organizations.

Always verify Instructor Credentials.

Schools that promise the world to aspiring HIM professionals and then don't deliver are a hot topic in

I am one of those students who went to a technical school for HIM, graduated with high grades. I took my certification for Medical billing and coding and also Medical transcription, scored in the high nineties on both. Only to realize after spending over $10,000. on school, along with a student loan, the 33 credits were not recognized, and NHA certifications where useless.

It's a shame that instititutions get away with these practices. I personal feel the government should get involved with these issues.

I attended one of the coding schools, and was lead to believe instantaneously, I would have a job. Many promises were made, but were always broken. I also felt the school's curriculum did lack certain programs, that are essential to becoming a succesful coder.

It wasn't a waste though. I did managed to learn something and have been fortunate to be working in my field. Yet, the road to get to this point wasn't easy, and there were many times I felt I would never work as a coder. In fact, I'm one of the very few that became a coder.

I also feel the government should get involved in making one organization in charge of the coding world. I can at least list 12 organizatons that certify coders. It would make the implementation of  standardization of coding curriculums acheivable, and help prevent further prospective HIM professionals from being mislead.

12 years ago when I moved to this county and was searching for employment in healthcare I had a very hard time.  With a Masters Degree in Health Management and a veteran manager of large medical practices in urban areas I was astounded as to the (lack of) educational requirements for these positions.  I took a teaching position with our local Community College in their “Medical Office Assistant” Program.  I was given a small slot of time to teach Medical Office Procedures and Medical Billing & Coding.  Needless to say two 3 unit courses in a short 16 week semester seemed unjust to the student to say the least.  It took over 4 years to break the Billing and Coding course into 2 separate sessions.  The mind set of the Department Chair and Coordinator was; these are simple vocations with a minimal amount of study and effort.  I too had to request “old” code books as I was not allowed to place current books on the course requirement listing at the bookstore as they are too costly for the student.  I spent 9 frustrating years, trying to express the detail and constant change of the health industry to a department full of personal agendas.  I felt such a disservice to the students I distanced myself from the availability to teach (I taught 3 classes on top of a full time administrative position and a private consulting business).  I basically kept at it out of a personal commitment to myself to elevate the knowledge of the local physician office worker.  I attempted to guide students to AHIMA (my coding certification) or AAPC as a credible and reliable source to further their education, as their present course of study in the CC setting was truly lacking.  Most students seemed unmotivated either by the expense or the time involved with a coding certificate.  Another factor is the size of the community and lack of available positions, along with the mind set of self taught low paying work is acceptable.  There are very few Community Colleges available to students who seek such training.  At my last inquiry there are only 6 campuses in the state that have a curriculum for RHIT, RHIA and Coding recognized by AHIMA or AAPC.  I too cannot express the need for appropriate training, time and commitment.  This industry needs the support of our local educational institutions to provide accurate, in depth training and certification opportunities.

I attended the local community college here and after a year, received their medical coding/billing certificate. I went on to receive my AAS and AA. It wasn't until I was almost finished with the coding program that I started to really learn what was all involved in getting hired for a coding job. I applied for jobs at the local hospitals and was turned down due to no experience or AHIMA certification. I was very fortunate and was hired by a pain doctor knowing I had no experience. I went on to receive my CCA. I have been with the same Doctor for 2 years now and I think back and realize that the majority of what I have learned has been self taught. I'm still working on my BA and CCS ceritification. Sometimes I think people put too much empasis on weither a person has a certification to consider them qualified for a job. Anyone can be a coder or biller with the right training and practice. I don't believe people are receiving the right training with schools promising them careers in medical coding and billing.

I read the comment above and I can't believe they would want old coding books!!??

It is unfortunate that too many people have been swayed by ads promising careers in coding or medical billing if they enroll in whatever program is being advertised only to find they've been, essentially, scammed.  As a former Director of HIM, I would receive calls constantly from people who wanted me to hire them as soon as they finished these programs.  I also spoke with many "instructors" who wanted me to take students for clinical practices.  

Unless the programs were AHIMA-approved, I would never agree to take students (and teach them the things I knew they weren't learning in school!)  As for the students unfortunate enough to have completed non-AHIMA approved classes, I tried to let them down gently, telling them that they were in no way qualified to code at an inpatient hospital (or even code for our outpatient department.)  I actually had to give the same speech to a neighbor who was in the process of taking classes.  She would not believe me when I told her the training bordered on useless.  She chose, instead, to believe what her teacher told her.... she was training for a career that would provide limitless job opportunities.

On several occasions, I had students or program reps call and ask for our old coding books.  When I asked why they wanted old books, reminding them that they were updated annually, rendering the old books useless, one student actually told me that the teacher had different versions of coding tests, and graded the test answers depending on the year of the student's coding book!!  Another time, when a program rep asked our marketing department for old CPT books, I told them I could not, in good conscience, provide useless books.  I offered to purchase two current books and I was turned down!  I still can't quite believe that one....

To anyone considering a career in coding, please call your local hospital's HIM department and ask for advice from the Director (or other supervisory staff) when making a choice as to which school/program to attend.  You could be saving yourself a ton of money in many instances.  You could also be saving time by not attending a useless program that will NOT get you a job in the "exciting field of professional coding."