{"id":1355,"date":"2009-07-27T15:28:19","date_gmt":"2009-07-27T20:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=1355"},"modified":"2009-07-27T15:28:19","modified_gmt":"2009-07-27T20:28:19","slug":"acc-grad-cracks-medical-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/07\/27\/acc-grad-cracks-medical-code\/","title":{"rendered":"ACC Grad Cracks Medical Code"},"content":{"rendered":"

New ACC degree gives grads profitable skills, experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Tommy<\/p>\n

Tommy David - Graduate of ACC's Health Information Technology (HIT) Program<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tommy David is a sort of healthcare detective. He deciphers bad handwriting, unravels medical mysteries, and saves his hospital money \u2013 all in a day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaying attention to detail is what I do,\u201d says David, a graduate of Austin Community College\u2019s Health Information Technology (HIT) Program.<\/p>\n

In 2005, David came to ACC to study medical coding, and he left a year later with a technical certificate in the field and a \u201ccoder 1\u201d job at St. David\u2019s Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m one of the guys who handle the emergency reports and billing. Once a person leaves ER, the chart comes to me,\u201d he says. \u201cCoders find out what medications were given, what bandage was applied. I\u2019m looking at the chart to see what the nurse did, what the doctor did. There\u2019s a code for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coders like David are sometimes called health information technicians (HITs) or billing specialists. They break down healthcare interactions and translate them into standardized medical codes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coder\u2019s job is very important because that\u2019s where the revenue is generated,\u201d David says. \u201cInsurance companies will not pay if the correct codes are not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The HIT field is one of the bright spots in an otherwise slow economy, and the Obama administration\u2019s push toward electronic health records is expected to increase the demand for skilled coders. In fact, ACC recently introduced a two-year, HIT associate degree to meet local industry demand for skilled coders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new degree fulfills the college\u2019s mission to develop skilled workers who can earn a good living while meeting a community need,\u201d says Mike Midgley, vice president of workforce education and business development.<\/p>\n

ACC\u2019s new HIT degree will enable coders to obtain industry credentials as registered health information technicians (RHITs).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis degree program will open even more doors for ACC\u2019s medical coding students,\u201d says Norma Mercado, ACC\u2019s HIT Program chair. \u201cThere are some positions that require RHIT credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercado is working with the industry\u2019s accrediting body to obtain accreditation, a process that begins in spring.<\/p>\n

Besides RHIT eligibility, Mercado says the new two-year degree offers future coders a huge advantage over shorter, less rigorous programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve added core curriculum and nine additional classes that cover health delivery systems, healthcare statistics, and advanced medical terminology,\u201d Mercado says. \u201cStudents also will have three times the previous amount of on-site, clinical experience \u2013 over 600 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cynthia Colovas, St. David\u2019s Medical Center\u2019s health information management director and an advisor to the ACC HIT Program, welcomes the new HIT degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cACC\u2019s degree program offers many benefits to the healthcare community, and ultimately, to patients,\u201d Colovas says. \u201cACC graduates will be equipped to work in an evolving healthcare field, and employers will have a solid pool of applicants who have a broad, deeper knowledge base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interested in learning about the Health Information Technology Program? Visit austincc.edu\/health\/hitt<\/a> or call the Health Sciences Information and Admissions Office at (512) 223.5700 or (888) 626-1697.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New ACC degree gives grads profitable skills, experience Tommy David is a sort of healthcare detective. He deciphers bad handwriting, unravels medical mysteries, and saves his hospital money \u2013 all in a day\u2019s work. \u201cPaying … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-announcements"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}