Advanced Coding for the Physician's Office

Certificate Program

The California State University, East Bay Certificate in Advanced Coding for the Physician's Office is designed for those with previous coding education or experience, including those who have earned the Administrative Medical Specialist Certificate.

Cal State East Bay's program enhances its students' marketability and prepares them for the American Academy of Professional Coders' Certified Professional Coder (CPC) Certification Exam. The in-depth curriculum covers CPT, ICD-9-CM (Volumes I and II) and HCPCS Level II Coding, the Correct Coding Initiative (CCI), compliance and reimbursement issues, E&M guidelines, and much more.

Offered in partnership with Gatlin Education Services, our program's online-only format makes it convenient for anyone in the world, not just those who live or work in the San Francisco East Bay Area.

Program Objectives

• To prepare graduates for the Certified Professional Coder Certification Exam.
• To provide graduates an understanding of CMS guidelines for outpatient diagnostic coding and the ability to identify the "special circumstances" the CMS guidelines specify.
• To give graduates a complete understanding of each subcategory of ICD-9 codes and the disease processes involved, as well as an understanding of the supplementary classifications.
• To equip graduates to identify both primary and principal diagnoses.
• To help graduates increase their accuracy in ICD-9 disease classification coding.
• To give graduates a complete understanding of the use of modifiers, section guidelines, and the uses of specific CPT codes, as well the steps to CPT coding that will help them increase accuracy.
• To give graduates a strong familiarity with the levels of HCPCS coding and how to apply HCPCS coding conventions.
• To increase graduates' knowledge of Medicare guidelines.
• To provide graduates an understanding of the CMS Evaluation and Management (E&M) Documentation Guidelines (DG) and how to apply them.
• To increase graduates' skill in finding information about Local Medical Review Policies (LMRP), state specific guidelines, compliance issues, and other coding and billing issues.
• To give graduates a stronger understanding of the uses of LMRPs and when to apply them.

Who Should Attend

• Those with coding education or experience who seek to enhance their coding skills and increase their marketability.
• Those who seek to prepare for the Certified Professional Coder Certification Exam.

Program Highlights