Associate of Arts in Business Administration (AABA) with a concentration in Medical Coding and Billing

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow at the national level much faster than average for all occupations through 2014. Of course, local employment markets may vary. This increase in demand is due to rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that will be increasingly scrutinized by health insurance companies, regulators, courts and consumers. Also, technicians may be needed to enter patient information into computer databases to comply with federal legislation mandating the use of electronic patient records. Technicians with a strong background in medical coding may be in particularly high demand.* AIU Online offers an online Associate of Arts in Business Administration (AABA) degree with a concentration in Medical Coding and Billing to help meet the demand for healthcare professionals with industry-current skills.

In addition to the broad base of fundamental business courses and general education requirements designed to foster critical thinking and communication skills, this concentration includes the study of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, legal aspects of health information, coding and abstraction of data, statistics, database management, quality improvement methods and computer science.

Learning from Experience

The AABA degree program with a concentration in Medical Coding and Billing features industry-relevant coursework taught by faculty members, many of which have real-world experience in the field. Learning from experienced instructors, you can absorb knowledge that can immediately be applied in real-world professional situations. Instructors cover material including:

The practical application of medical vocabulary.
The procedures, skills, and activities necessary for establishing and maintaining an efficient medical and allied health office.
An introduction to the generic components of health record content within various healthcare settings.

Applying Your Knowledge in the Real World

As you progress towards the successful completion of this degree program, you should be able to develop career-marketable skills, including how to:

Demonstrate knowledge of information processing, retention, storage and retrieval that assist entry- to mid-level opportunities for graduates to work in healthcare organizations.
Demonstrate knowledge of information technology systems used in the health industry to facilitate the collection, interpretation, analysis and retrieval of patient, financial, medical and administrative data and information.
Demonstrate knowledge of classifying, coding of diagnosis, procedures and protocols used in coding systems in the health industry for medical records, insurance claims and billing for services provided.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos103.htm).