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CODING CERTIFICATE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT FORM
Sponsoring Institution: Alexandria Technical College
Program Name: Medical Coding Specialist Program
. narrative only, evidence needed criteria met
Status  
Criteria
A. The organization offering coding instruction
(academic institution, healthcare organizations,
private companies, etc.) must ensure that:
1) The program has been in existence a
minimum of six months;
2) Instruction follows established coding
guidelines and practices;
3) Financial resources are adequate to fulfill
obligations to currently enrolled students;
4) Non-discriminatory practices with respect to
race, color, creed, sex, age, disabling
conditions (handicaps), and national origin
are practiced; and
5) Evidence of annual program assessment
and incorporation of community of interest
needs.
X Met
 Concern Identified
X Met
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X Met
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X Met
 Concern Identified
X Met Concern Identified
 Met
 Concern Identified
 Met
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 Met
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 Met
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 Met Concern Identified
B. The organization must provide evidence that
appropriate systems/policies are in place and,
Comments
A1 – Program opened 2000
A2 – Program has hard copies of
Coding Clinic and CPT Assistance.
Require CPT/ICD-9-CM coding books as
well as texts.
A3 - Financial information submitted
reflects budgets and expenses, however
no information of resources was
provided other than the statement that
they are part of their state college and
university system and a statement that
they have “always been able to manage
available funds” in times of financial
stress. Budget and expense data
supplied does not cover teachers’
salaries.
A4 –
A5 - Minutes of the advisory committee
reflect discussions concerning the
school’s issues but not issues about the
needs of the community.
B1 –
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Status  
Criteria
when appropriate, published for determining
how:
1) Students are admitted to program;
2) Records are maintained for student
enrollment and evaluation in sufficient detail
to document learning progress and
achievement;
3) Student/faculty/instructor grievances are
handled by a clearly written and consistent
process according to an established
protocol, communicated to affected parties;
4) There is a defined process for student
withdrawal and refunds of tuition/fees.
C. Announcements and promotions must
accurately reflect the program being offered.
The organization must clearly indicate the
intended competencies and outcome of the
coding program: (I.) comprehensive coding
certificate program, or (II.) coding program for
physician practices.
Met
 Concern Identified
Met
 Concern Identified
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 Concern Identified
 Met
 Concern Identified
 Met
X Concern Identified
 Met
 Concern Identified
Comments
B2 –
B3 –
B4 –
Program report states 50 credit Diploma
program; however, one of the two
colored flyers in the report states a 34credit Diploma Program. The other
colored flyer, updated August 2004,
states 50 credit Diploma Program.
The August 2004 colored flyer, under
career outlook, does not specify hospital
employment as an option.
The report notes that this Coding
Diploma program is for physician
practices; however, it is unclear from the
narrative whether they are equally
geared towards hospital coding. The
August 2004 flyer also notes “clinical
coders” referring to physician basedcoding.
D. The instructors/faculty and content developers
must demonstrate current knowledge in course

Met
 Concern Identified
2
Status  
Criteria
Comments
content through appropriate professional
development activities. Coding course
instructors and content developers for the
professional course content must possess an
AHIMA recognized credential: RHIA, RHIT,
CCS, or CCS-P.
E. Sufficient instructional staff must be provided to
assure that students receive adequate
attention, instruction and feedback to acquire
the knowledge and competence needed for
entry level coding practice.
F. Curriculum Plan must include
1.
The curriculum must include the AHIMA
coding curriculum knowledge clusters and
show how the appropriate knowledge base
is obtained.

Met
Met
Concern Identified
Currently there are 20 students enrolled
with faculty being 2.Class size is aprox
20, faculty count is 6
XConcern Identified
F1 – Current course syllabi do not
mention AHIMA coding knowledge
clusters.
F1 F2 –
2. Appropriate course content must be
reinforced by structured practice
experiences to apply learned principles.
a) Biomedical Sciences
1) Anatomy and Physiology
2) Medical Terminology
3) Pathophysiology
4) Pharmacotherapy
F2a,1 –

Met
X Concern Identified
F2a,2 – There is significant redundancy
in the Medical Terminology course and
the Applied Medical Terminology course.
F2a,3 – Pathology is taught after Intro to
ICD and CPT, this is not a logical
sequence.
b) Information Technology
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Criteria
1) Introduction to Computers
2) Computer Applications in
Healthcare
c) Health Care Data Content and
Structure
1) Health Care Data/Content
2) Legal/Ethical Issues
d) Health Care Delivery Systems
1) Healthcare Delivery Systems:
Organization of healthcare
delivery, Healthcare organization,
Accreditation Standards,
Licensure/regulatory agencies,
And Payment & reimbursement
systems
e) Clinical Coding & Classification
Systems
1) Basic Diagnosis Coding Systems:
ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM, Other
diagnosis coding systems, and
coding guidelines & reporting
requirements
2) Basic Procedural Coding Systems:
ICD-9-CM Volume III, CPT-4,
HCPCS Level II codes, and other
procedural coding systems
X
Met
Concern Identified
Comments
F2a,4 – Pharmacotherapy is taught after
Intro to ICD and CPT which includes
HCPCS coding for medications, this is
not a logical sequence.
F2b,1 –
X Met
 Concern Identified
Met
 Concern Identified

Met
 Concern Identified
F2b,2 – Other than the 3M encoder the
computer applications are physician
office focused. Would like to see
abstracting software and exercises.
F2, c1 – There is significant redundancy
in the Introduction to Health Information
and Health Care Systems and Practice
courses.
F2, c2 F2, d1- There is significant redundancy
in the Introduction to Health Information
and Health Care Systems and Practice
courses.

Met
Met
Concern Identified
XConcern Identified
F2,e1- The amount of time spent in the
instruction of fundamental coding
guidelines is out of proportion with time
spent on administrative aspects. Would
like to see the redundancies mentioned
earlier removed to make more time
spent with coding guidelines for both ICD
and CPT.
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Status  
Criteria

3) Intermediate Procedure Coding:
RBRVS, APCs, ASC, E&M
services, surgical services,
Procedural coding for inpatients,
comparison of ICD-9-CM Volume
III to ICD-10-PCS
Met
Met
 Met
 Concern Identified
XConcern Identified
 Concern Identified
*These courses must include handson exposure to computerized encoding
systems: Logic based encoding
software, Automated code book
software systems, and Natural
Language processing coding systems
Met X Concern Identified
 Met  Concern Identified
Comments
F2,e2- Introduction to CPT includes Vol
3 of ICD and uses a physician specific
CPT text book. The guidelines for Vol 3
are not in the text.
F2,e1- ICD-10-CM is noted under
Intermediate ICD-9-CM
F2,e3-RBRVS, APCs, and ASC are
located under Medicolegal and
Reimbursement Issues.
F2,e3Syllabus does not mention if 3M encoder
is used for CPT coding, APC grouping,
or establishing NCCI edits. However,
during medical practicum, encoder is
used for both ICD-9-CM and CPT
coding.
Encoder-3M Encoder as well indication
of implementing AHIMA Virtual Lab
Encoder- 3M
f) Reimbursement Methodology
1) Reimbursement Methodology:
PPS, DRGs, APCs, ASC Groups,
RBRVS, Third party payers, Billing
and Insurance Procedures, EOBs,
Quality Improvement
Organizations and their role in the
payment process, Charge master
descriptions, Managed care
 Met
 Concern Identified
F2,f1-No mention of NCCI edits on
outpatient billing/coding.
F2,f1-
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Criteria
Comments
capitation, Compliance issues,
Claims processing, and Auditing
the coding process for regulatory
compliance
g) Professional Practice
1. Experience/Practicum/Internship: At
a minimum, students should have practice
with clinical code assignment and billing
methodologies. Programs should include
projects and cases that replicate typical
coding tasks in a physician’s office,
hospital outpatient clinic, ambulatory
surgery, and hospital acute care settings
that employ coding professionals.
3. Course content and curriculum sequencing
must be established in accordance with
recognized educational principles, to
develop the competencies necessary for
entry-level coding practice.
 Met
 Met
X Concern Identifie
Concern Identified
F2,g1- It would be helpful to know how
many and the types of hands-on medical
coding students perform.
F2,g1-
 Met X Concern Identifie
 Met Concern Identified
F3- Concerns regarding sequencing as
Pathophysiology and Pharmacology are
located in the final semester.
F3- Pathology and Pharmacology should
precede coding courses.
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Criteria
G. Clearly written course material (syllabi) shall be
provided to the student, which clearly describes
course learning objectives and supervised
professional practice assignments to be
achieved, the frequency of testing and other
documented student evaluation and the
competencies required for completion.
H. Testing methods (evaluation systems) must
include content related to the objectives and
competencies described in the curriculum for
both didactic and supervised professional
practice education components. They must be
employed frequently enough to provide timely
feedback of the students’ progress and to
serve as a reliable indicator of the effectiveness
of course design and instruction.
I.
Programs must periodically evaluate their
effectiveness in achieving the instructional
goals and AHIMA’s coding competencies.
Such evaluation of outcomes should include job
placement rates, and student and employer
satisfaction with the program. The results of
this process must be reflected in the curriculum


Met
Met
 Met
XConcern Identified
 Concern Identified
 Concern Identified
 Met XConcern Identified
 Met Concern Identified
Comments
F3,g- MEDS1623 Medical Reception’s
syllabus notes the credentials to be
ART/RRA.F3,g-
F3,h-
F3,iInternal Assessment– Met – student
evaluations and job placement
rates/statistics.
External Assessments – Unable to
locate copies of external reviews.
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Status  
Criteria
and other dimensions of the program.
Comments
F3,iInternal Assessment–
External Assessments – Need
employer/community satisfaction
RECOMMENDATION:

Approve
X  Approve with conditions  Withhold*  Deny
*Approval Withheld requires a progress report within a set time period stipulated by the ACCP.
Rationale for Recommendation:
The content of this program is overall strong. The weaknesses lie in sequencing and distribution of objectives and time spent in
actual coding classes. It is understood that this sequencing was done to aid in their class scheduling needs to coordinate with their
other programs, which is efficient so long as it does not compromise the logical progression of the material. The textbook for CPT
needs to be reconsidered since otherwise they are a comprehensive program.
1. Create consistent advertising material, i.e. brochures, flyers, etc. to reflect the correct number of credits for this Diploma
program.
2. Be consistent in addressing employment opportunities, such as hospitals, in all advertising material.
3. Stress that both physician-based and inpatient based, i.e. hospital, LTC, Rehabilitation coding will be addressed (see above).
4. Update syllabi to reflect current AHIMA credentials, i.e. RHIA, RHIT, etc.
5. Update syllabi to state/refer to AHIMA coding curriculum knowledge clusters.
6. Address concerns for Intermediate CPT coding use of 3M encoder for APC grouping and NCCI edits in Intermediate CPT
coding.
7. Provide external assessment processes.
8. Address concerns for sequencing Pharmacology and Pathophysiology courses in the final semester.
9. Clarify the amount of hands-on coding students perform.
Date of Peer Review: 2/16/07
Date of Consultative Review:
Date of Peer Review: 03-22-06
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Criteria
Status  
Comments
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