Medical coders are responsible for assigning codes to diagnoses and procedures in order to insure proper financial reimbursement from insurance companies and government agencies. Medical coders, also called insurance coders or claims specialists, use a universally recognized coding system and must ensure correct code selection for compliance with federal regulations and insurance requirements. Knowledge of both the medical and business sides of health care is essential in this detail-oriented field. Coding specialists work in health care facilities such as hospitals, clinics, physician practice groups, surgery centers, long-term care facilities, and home health care agencies. Coders are also employed by consulting firms, coding and billing services, insurance companies, governmental agencies and computer software companies.The approximate completion time for the Medical Coder Certificate is 900 hours or 7 months at 30 hours per week and maintaining 100% progress.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you are enrolling in any health occupation program, any misdemeanor or felony conviction that you have on your record, may negatively impact your chances of completing the program, being placed on an externship site, and employment in a health care career. See your specific program coordinator for more detailed information.

Employer Advisory Team

• Intermountain North Ogden Health Center
• MDSI Physician Services
• IHC Physicians Division
• Health Clinics of Utah
• Essential Healthcare Solutions
• Ogden Clinic
• McKay-Dee Hospital Center

What's Happening in the Medical Coder program

We have just updated our curriculum and we are very excited about some of the new learning tools we have incorporated into the Medical Office Administration course work.  You will be able to enter a “Virtual Medical Office” that allows you to see how a medical office employee actually functions in various situations.  Come by and see what we have to offer.

We are seeing more and more people inquire about the Medical Coding program.  Many women, particularly, see it as a great skill to acquire because coding has the potential for them to be able to work from a home office.  A good medical coder is a valuable individual to a physician, guiding the physician with critical information that will help the physician be compliant while maximizing their reimbursement for services.  It’s a great career!

OWATC  has incorporated the Medical Transcription program into Medical Technologies area.  We anticipate a continued need for skilled medical transcriptionists despite the increase of electronic medical records.

Your Instructor

Marilyn Holley, RHIT, CPC has over a decade of coding and billing experience.  She earned her degree in Health Information Management at Weber State University in 1993.  She received her CPC credential in 1994 and became an AAPC PMCC certified instructor in 1998.  She has worked as an Emergency Department coder for much of her coding career and has managed a coding department for a local clinic for 3 years.

“I love coding and the medical office environment.  As Coding and Medical Office Instructor at OWATC, my goal is to assist students in learning the skills necessary to be successful in their career as a coder or medical office administrative staff member.  Medical Office and coding skills are EXTREMELY important to the health of any physician’s practice.”

“I love teaching students to do something that I love doing!  It is thrilling to me to see a student grows from knowing very little about something to mastering it and successfully entering the workforce as a confident employee!” I welcome the opportunity to answer any questions you might have about our program!  Please stop by BU140 on the Ogden campus or call me at 627-8336.

Contact me:
holleym@owatc.edu
801-627-8336