Certification created for physician coders
Certification created for physician coders
The growing emphasis on physician coding has resulted in a new certification the Certified Coding Specialist Physician-based (CCS-P).
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) will administer the new certification, and the first examination will be held Sept. 13 at 50 locations around the country. The association recommends that physician-based coders with three or more years’ experience take the examination.
Several new educational resources are being put together to help coders prepare for the certification exam, and a certification guide for both the CCS and CCS-P certifications, which feature competencies necessary to pass and logistical information about the exams, will be available in May, AHIMA says.
The new certification is in response to the spread of health information management positions throughout the health spectrum. AHIMA notes, for instance, that the portion of HIM professionals working in nonhospital settings rose from 35% to 42% from 1995 to 1996.
Differences between physician- and hospital-based coding systems also were cited. "All of these phenomena point to the need for unique training and certification for physician-based coders," says Ellen S. MacDonald, MPH, RRA, CCS, immediate past president of AHIMA.
While the new certification was developed by AHIMA, the American Medical Association, the Medical Group Management Association, and AHIMA’s Ambulatory Care Section and Society for Clinical Coding all helped design the new certification.
The application deadline for the first CCS-P examination is July 25. To place your name on the list to receive the examination guide or for more information about the new certification, call AHIMA at (312) 787-2672 and request department PR.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.