stay-at-home moms. But we also admit a
few younger students each year, too.”
DCH prefers to hire applicants who
have completed a program accredited
by the Commission on Accreditation
for Health Informatics and Information
Management Education and passed one of
three exams: registered health information
administrator, registered health informa-
tion technician or the certified coding spe-
cialist, Pitts said. It is important to choose
the right college because only graduates of
CAHIIM-accredited programs are eligible
to take these exams.
CAHIIM accreditation ensures that
students receive the necessary background
to perform coding in today’s environment,
Pitts explained.
The University of Alabama at Birming-
ham and Alabama State University in
Montgomery offer CAHIIM-accredited
bachelor’s degree programs. CAHIIM-
accredited associate degree programs are
offered by Wallace State in Hanceville, Ala.,
and Bishop State in Mobile, Ala.
Benefits of the job
Since every patient
is different and insurance company and
Medicare guidelines often change, Kramer
said, medical coding doesn’t get boring.
And once coders get some experience,
they may work from home. Several shifts
are available, too.
“One of the hardest decisions was mak-
ing the decision [to go back to school],”
Clements said. “It’s never too late to learn
something new. One reason I chose cod-
ing is to still be able to work at home and
still be able to work for DCH. It’s the best
of both worlds.”
For 90 years your friends and neighbors at DCH have been providing
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DCH REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER | NORTHPORT MEDICAL CENTER | FAYETTE MEDICAL CENTER | PICKENS COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER
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Perhaps the worst thing about quitting
smoking is that it isn’t easy. But the best
thing—aside from how it will benefit your
health and lower your risk of cancer—is that
there are plenty of resources to help you.
A great place to start is
www.smoke
free.gov
, a website created by the Tobacco
companies, Pitts explained. Coding also
can be used to grade hospitals and phy-
sicians, such as providing complication
rates.
“You are painting a picture of what
happened while that patient was here. It
has to be very comprehensive,” Kramer
said. “If a coder incorrectly codes some-
thing, it stays with that patient for a life-
time. The focus and accuracy required
are huge.”
Educational requirements and testing
Most medical coding programs fall under
the realm of health information technol-
ogy or health information management.
Medical coding students may attend a
certificate program like Clements did
or participate in a more comprehensive
program that leads to an associate or
bachelor’s degree. Students take courses
in anatomy, biology, physiology and phar-
macology. An associate degree in health
information management requires more
extensive anatomy and other classes,
plus some prerequisites, but can lead to
greater opportunities, such as manage-
ment, Pitts said.
For the past five years, interest in the
medical coding and health information
technology programs at Wallace State
has remained steady, Donna Stanley,
the school’s HIT program director, said.
“Most of our students are not right out of
high school,” Stanley said. “We are more
likely to have students who have worked
in another field or those that have been
Calling all coders
—Continued from page
Control Research Branch of the National
Cancer Institute. The website offers a va-
riety of free tools to help people kick a
cigarette habit.
Whether you’re simply thinking about
quitting smoking, are ready to quit or need
support to stay a nonsmoker, you’ll find
things there that will help. Among them:
●
An online calculator that will help you
determine how much money you’ll save
by quitting.
●
A step-by-step quit smoking guide.
●
Data comparisons of various methods
for quitting smoking.
●
SmokefreeTXT, a free text messag-
ing program that offers advice and
encouragement.
●
Publications that you will want to
download, print or order.
●
Information about the QuitGuide
App, available from iTunes, that you can
download on your smartphone using this
QR code.
We can help too
Our smoking cessation
classes are another excellent tool in your
quest to be a nonsmoker. They can help
you spot and cope with problems—and
give you emotional support—as you try
to quit.
Smoking: Ready to stop?
Start here for some help
2
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