Course Offerings

Learn what it takes to have a successful career as an administrative medical assistant in the exciting and high-demand world of health care. Master the basics of scheduling patients' appointments, surgeries and hospital admissions. In addition, discover how to create, maintain and file medical charts. Find out how to verify patients' insurance, create encounter forms (charge tickets), post charges, obtain pre-authorizations from insurers and schedule return visits. After that, go behind the scenes as you learn how to apply diagnostic and procedure codes to patients' accounts and bill their insurance companies. Next, explore additional accounts receivable tasks, including posting payments and adjustments, billing secondary insurance and following up on unpaid insurance claims. You also learn what a day sheet is, why it's important and how to keep track of all your patient accounts on a daily, monthly and yearly basis. Finally, delve into the basics of keeping a medical office running smoothly, from ordering supplies to scheduling staff meetings to making travel arrangements. If you're organized, a "people person" and interested in a secure job in the health care field, a career as an administrative medical assistant may be just what you're looking for. This course will set you on the path to that career and help you determine which aspect of medical information management, such as patient contact or billing and coding, suits you best.

Course Objectives

Explore the job of an administrative medical assistant (AMA) in a doctor's office, from appointment scheduling and chart creation to medical billing and coding, to give you an inside-view of the job.

Outline of Instruction

The Medical Office and Administrative Medical Assistant
Look at the exciting job opportunities for AMAs, the variety of careers they can choose from and the different settings where they can work

Ethics, the Law and HIPAA
The law and medicine go hand in hand, so this lesson teaches you the laws that you need to know if you become an AMA. The lesson covers everything from contracts to malpractice and also delves into HIPAA (a federal law that affects everyone in the health care field).

Computers and Office Equipment
Explore the office equipment and computer hardware that you're likely to use as an AMA. In addition, you delve into software, both standard office programs and the specialized software used in the field of medical information management.

Filing Processes and Equipment
Discover what the rainbow of colored stickers on a medical file means, and even practice creating a patient chart yourself. Find out why medical offices love lateral files, and master the tricky rules of alphabetizing. (Yes, it's more challenging than it looks!)

Records Management
Now that you're an expert on the outside of a patient chart, it's time to look inside. Find out which forms go in a medical record and just where to put each one. Learn about two styles of note-taking: SOAP and CHEDDAR. Finally, delve into the topic of medical record audits, and find out the legal way to correct a patient's chart

Appointment Scheduling, Check-In and Check-Out
It's time to introduce the star of the show: the patient. Learn everything about a patient encounter. This lesson focuses on the phone skills you can use to make appointments, handle questions and soothe angry callers. Next, flip open the appointment book and explore the tricks for scheduling patients easily and efficiently. Finally, follow a patient's visit from start to finish, and see how many tasks an AMA does during that appointment

Reception Area Tasks and Communication Skills
This lesson starts in the waiting room, where you learn more about the tasks a receptionist handles, from opening and closing a medical office to keeping the reception area shipshape. After that, understand barriers to communicating effectively with patients, and discover ways to overcome them. The lesson concludes with the fun and creative jobs that AMAs do: creating informational brochures and teaching aids.

Medical Insurance Basics
Learn the meaning of terms like managed care, capitation and fee-for-service. Explore government programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Workers' Compensation and TRICARE. By the time you're done, you will have a good feel for the many types of insurance an AMA handles every day.

The Medical Insurance Claim Form
Have you ever studied an insurance claim form? If so, you know it contains dozens of mysterious questions and checkboxes. Review one of these claim forms and learn how to conquer it. By the end of the lesson, you will know how to fill in each field of the CMS-1500 claim form. In fact, you even get to try it yourself!

Diagnostic Coding
Medical coding is a hot field for AMAs, so it's a great specialty if you're looking for job security. Take a quick look at diagnostic coding and see why it's both fun and challenging. Explore the ICD-10-CM, talk about the detective work involved in abstracting a diagnostic statement and explore the steps of coding a diagnosis.

Procedural Coding
Finish up your tour of medical coding with an overview of procedural coding. Learn all about a manual called the CPT, and discover how to use it to code everything from surgeries to X-rays to acupuncture. Examine a second manual called the HCPCS ("hix-pix"), which contains codes for ambulances, root canals and much more. Delve into anesthesia coding, a tricky but rewarding sub-specialty.

The Business Office
The final lesson includes a visit to the business office and focuses on how AMAs keep track of the money coming in and going out. Learn about inventory control and supply ordering, two crucial jobs that help keep a medical office running smoothly. Explore payroll management and investigate several jobs that fall under the umbrella of human resources.

Contact Hours

24

CEUs

No

Industry Standard, State or National Certification

Certification

None

Website

None

Certification Learning Outcomes/Requirements

CE or CU Articulation

No

Prerequisites

N/A

Learning Supplies Needed

Hardware requirements:
This course can be taken on either a PC, a Mac or a Chromebook.

Software requirements:
PC: Windows 8 or later
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:
Email capabilities and access to a personal email account

Instructional material requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Clinical Site/Special Facilities

N/A

Requirements for Successful Completion

90% attendance
Students must score 70% or better on 10 quizzes or 70% or better on the final exam.

Accreditation/Special Approval Requirements

N/A

Intended Audience

Specific Industry or Business Support Needs

N/A

Wake County Need for Industry Positions

N/A

Industry or Job Titles Related to Training Outcomes for Employment

Related Courses

Course Contact Information

Non-Credit Online Learning https://ceonline.waketech.edu
919-532-5847
[email protected]