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 8 months at 30 hours per week and maintaining 100% progress.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are enrolling in any health occupation program, any misdemeanor or felony conviction relating to drug offenses, assault/violent crimes, sexual assault, fraud, or theft that you have on your record, will result in the college not being able to place you in a clinical or externship site. As a result, you will not be able to complete the program. See your program coordinator for more detailed information.
Health Information Technologies
Mission Statement
The Health Information Technologies Program at Ogden-Weber Tech College is committed to providing state-of-the-art training of students for entry level positions in Medical Office Administration, Medical Coding and Medical Transcription. This commitment is designed to meet the needs of both students seeking skills to secure employment, as well as employers who are seeking highly skilled workers to support the goals of their organization. We accomplish this by continued interaction with local employers and monitoring of the healthcare industry to reflect the rapidly changing needs of these occupations. We are further committed in training students in the basics of professionalism and ethics to strengthen the core values of our students as they enter the workforce. We believe that this will in turn provide stronger individuals and communities. We want our students to believe that they can “start here, and go anywhere!”
Employer Advisory Team:
- Carepoint Network
- Essential Healthcare Solutions
- Health Clinics of Utah
- IHC Physicians Division
- Intermountain North Ogden Health Center
- MDSI Physician Services
What's Happening in the Program
We have just updated our curriculum and we are very excited about some of the new learning tools we have incorporated into the Health Information Technologies 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! Ogden-Weber Tech College has incorporated the Medical Coder program into the Health Information Technologies area. Health Information Technologies also offers Medical Office Administration and Medical Transcription Certificates.
Your Instructor(s)
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 three years. “I love coding and the medical office environment. As an instructor at Ogden-Weber Tech College, my goal is to assist students in learning the skills necessary to be successful in their career as a medical coder, medical office administrative staff member, or medical transcriptionist. All these 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 HT126 at the Main Campus or call me at 627-8336.”
Contact me: holleym@owatc.edu 801-627-8336
