DAVAO CITY—A training has been hatched for Filipino professionals here on US-certified medical coders and billers. The selection process would focus on those working on the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
The contact-center support services outfit, TeleDevelopment Services (TDS), announced this week that the Philippine government, through the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), will fund the certification training program. It would have the Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines (Himap) and the TDS as its partners.
The TDS said successful trainees would be obtaining their certification from the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), the largest medical coding certifying organization.
“Although the training is targeted for ICT professionals, the training is open to all applicants,” it said. The selection process for applicants has been going on until Monday, February 19.
“Ideally, training participants are expected to be ICT professionals specializing in medical coding and billing, who are readily employable with skills deemed sufficient for industry needs and international certification standards,” the TDS quoted Cristina Coronel, president of Himap, as saying.
The certification training partnership would officially be called the Medical Coding and Certification Program (MCCP), Coronel said, and the course would be teaching fundamental coding skills in an outpatient-physician setting.
“Therefore, it would prepare the trainees in taking and passing the AAPC Certified Professional Coder [CPC] exam,” she added.
She said the CPC credential has been considered “the gold standard for medical coding in a physician office setting” and the program’s goal “is for the trainees to qualify for hiring by reputable companies and Himap members.”
She said, the MCCP would be a full-time concentrated curriculum on medical coding concepts and application.
The training would run for eight hours a day or 40 hours a week and would run for 200 hours for five weeks.
The TDS said all interested trainees would undergo the assessment process that the DICT, Himap and TDS agreed on. Applicants with complete requirements would then take the qualification examination and interview.
The top 28 applicants would qualify for training although only the top 14 would be allowed to take the certification exam.
“For the top 14, the privilege would cover training fees, books, membership registration and examination fees directly made to AAPC through TDS,” it said.
But all top 28 participants “are eligible for employment with any Himap member-companies.”