[November 2008]

Healthcare providers and their employees are saying they are pleased with the way a new consortium is bringing to much-needed medical coding training to the area’s healthcare industry.

While medical employees can get coding training through other avenues, the training is often expensive and time consuming. The healthcare consortium is changing that by delivering the training at no cost to the participating employers and their employees.

The consortium was organized and funded through a collaboration between the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), Big Sandy Area Community Action Program (Big Sandy Area CAP) and Big Sandy Community and Technical College (Big Sandy CTC).

Ancil Lewis, CEO of Big Sandy Health Care, said being invited to become a part of the consortium was an offer too good to pass up.

Lewis said he is also impressed with the consortium’s structure. He said having several different companies in the same field pooling their employees to meet a shared training need is a new and worthwhile idea for the area.

“I think it’s unique,” Lewis said.

Pat Bentley, director of Health Information for St. Joseph Martin Hospital , said the training program is something her company needed.

Although many employees there have coding experience, the hospital’s physician billing department and rural health clinics lack employees with the necessary coding experience, Bentley said.

Employees were “very interested” in participating in the program because it allows them to earn a certification that will help them in their current job, and will be a major resume selling point should they choose to seek employment at another healthcare provider, she said. Employees were even willing to take the classes after work hours, she added.

Bentley said she feels area healthcare providers should work together on such projects, since a better-trained workforce means better healthcare for the area’s residents.

“Even though we are competitors, we really are working toward the same goals,” she said.

EKCEP hopes to organize future healthcare consortia. Bentley said other providers should take advantage of those opportunities when they become available.

“I think we can work together to make this area better economically,” Bentley said.

Belinda Cook, nurse coordinator for McDowell Appalachian Regional Healthcare Home Health Agency, agreed that the consortium has been a positive experience for her company and its employees.

“I think it’s a great thing,” Cook said, adding that for healthcare providers, the training helps meet “a great need that all of us had.”

Deana Holbrook, Business Services representative with Big Sandy Area CAP, explained that three coding classes are currently scheduled as part of the consortium, and all offer different certifications.

The most basic certification, Certified Coding Assistant (CCA), features an entry-level class for employees with little or no coding experience. The second certification, Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), is generally for those working in hospitals and requires prior coding experience.

The third certification, Certified Coding Specialist-Physician (CCS-P), is an expert certification for people with advanced coding and medical experience, and is for those working in a physician’s office or similar setting.

The CCS class recently got underway with 33 students.

Employees in the first class said coding experience is so valuable and useful that they were willing to take the class even though they had to travel and take it after business hours.

“I thought it would be interesting,” said Kenneth Addington, a radiologic technologist for Big Sandy Health Care.

Addington said that he already helps nurses with coding duties when things are slow at work. And it “couldn’t hurt” to have a coding certification on his resume, he said.

Paula Tackett already works as a coder at St. Joseph Martin Hospital , but said she took the class so she could get certified in CCS hospital-based coding. She already has the CCS-P certification necessary to code for physicians.

“It means a lot to have that (hospital-based) certification,” Tackett said. “It looks very good on a resume to have the credentials.”

Tackett said she is learning a lot from the classes, and it is nice to get to know people from different companies. The cooperative nature of the class is worth supporting, she said.

“I just think it’s a really good thing for the community,” Tackett said.

For more information about Big Sandy Area CAP and EKCEP's Business Solutions Services, contact Joyce Wilcox at 606-886-2948 or Crawford Blakeman at 606-436-5751.