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Certified Medical Administrative Assistant with Medical Billing and Coding (Vouchers Included)

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Program Overview

Obtaining your medical administrative assistant certification is the first step towards entering this growing field! Medical billers and coders are also in high demand — making this course's medical billing and coding program bundle a powerful tool in achieving your career goals.

In this online Certified Medical Administrative Assistant with Medical Billing and Coding course, you will learn what is required to succeed, including the foundations of medical assisting, professional behavior, legal and ethical issues, effective communication, and managing patient interactions.

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Job Outlook

The demand for administrative medical assistants is high, and it is expected to grow 16% over the next several years according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This job growth will result mainly from an increasing elderly population as well as advances in healthcare and medical office technology.

According to the AAPC 2024 Medical Coding and Billing Salary Report results, non-certified medical records specialists average $53,749 per year, while certified medical records specialists average $62,689 annually — 16.6% more than their non-certified colleagues.

Frequently Asked Questions

A certified medical administrative assistant (CMAA) is a certification earned by those who have proven their expertise in efficiently and effectively running healthcare offices. This nationally recognized designation is something that many employers are searching for in one of the fastest-growing careers today. Upon earning this certification, you'll be able to confidently handle correspondence, answer calls, schedule appointments, operate computer systems, maintain files, update and maintain patient information, and create operation reports for any medical practice, essential duties for any administrative medical assistant.

Upon earning your CMAA certification, you can confidently handle correspondence, answer calls, schedule appointments, operate computer systems, maintain files, update and maintain patient information, and create operation reports for any medical practice, essential duties for any administrative medical assistant.

Duties of administrative medical assistants include checking patients in, scheduling appointments, filing insurance claims, updating patient medical records, and communicating information to patients and other medical departments.

The difference between an administrative medical assistant and a medical assistant is that while both positions can and do perform clerical tasks, a medical assistant also has the ability to perform some clinical tasks such as helping with examinations, giving injections, and preparing specimens for lab tests.

Medical billers and coders are responsible for processing patient data including medical records and related insurance. In this position, you will code a patient's diagnosis and then request payment from the patient's insurance company. You will play an important role in ensuring that healthcare providers are quickly and accurately paid for the treatment they give patients.

Medical administrative assistants are found in nearly every medical office in the country. By earning your CMAA, you'll be prepared to work for clinics, private physician offices, hospitals, surgery centers, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, and more. Professional medical offices need CMAAs to help keep their offices running smoothly as they treat patients.

Yes. The CMAA exam consists of 110 multiple-choice questions. The questions are weighted so some are worth more points than others, and you must score a minimum of 390 points in order to pass the exam. The exam must be taken at a PSI testing center, and you will be given 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete it.

Yes. This course prepares you to sit for the certified medical administrative assistant (CMAA) exam, offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). You will receive a voucher for the exam after successfully completing the course coursework.

This course also prepares you for three other certifications: (1) the certified billing and coding specialist (CBCS) exam, offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA); (2) the certified professional coder (CPC) exam, offered by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC); and the certified coding associate (CCA) exam, offered by AHIMA. You will receive a voucher for the certification exam of your choosing after successfully completing the course. Note: Online certification exams through NHA and AAPC are offered in the US only.

This course is open enrollment, so you can register and start the course whenever you are ready. Access to your course can take 24-48 business hours. 

After you register, you will receive 6 months to complete the course. The time allotted for completion has been calculated based on the number of course hours.

Course Objectives

  • Review key terminology and discuss the fundamentals of medical billing and coding, including structures and functions of the human body, office skills, financial practices, and administrative processes
  • Understand disorders and medical procedures common to each body system
  • Learn legal, ethical, and regulatory concepts central to the field, including HIPAA compliance and third-party guidelines for filing insurance claims
  • Cover the main coding manuals: ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, CPT, and HCPCS Level II
  • Gain hands on exposure to an encoder application: Codify (AAPC)
  • Master the various administrative job duties of a medical assistant, including scheduling, insurance processing, record-keeping, and patient communication and financial practices
  • Maintain and update patient and practice-specific information, scheduling appointments, coordinating operational reports, and proficiently operate office software and equipment

Prerequisites and Certification Requirements

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 10 or later.
  • Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
  • Microsoft Word Online
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment.

The following digital textbook for the Medical Terminology course is accessed via links in the course lessons:

  • Comprehensive Medical Terminology for Health Professions, 1st Edition (eBook)

The following textbooks will be shipped to you approximately 7–10 business days after enrollment:

  • Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Competencies, by Michelle Blesi
  • Workbook to Accompany Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Competencies, by Michelle Blesi

The following digital textbooks for this course are accessed via links in the Medical Billing and Coding course lessons:

  • Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement (eBook)
  • Accompanying Workbook: Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement (eBook)

The following textbooks will be shipped to you approximately 7–10 business days after enrollment in Medical Billing and Coding:

  • ICD-10-CM Expert for Physicians
  • CPT Professional
  • HCPCS Level II Professional

You will receive a choice of a study guide/voucher package upon course completion:

  • CBCS Study Guide
  • Professional Review Guide for the CCA Examination and ICD-10-PCS Expert
  • Official CPC Certification Study Guide

Please note: You will receive a digital book if the physical book is on backorder.

Certification Requirements:

In order to sit for the national certification exam, candidates must have a high school diploma or equivalent. Note: Certification exams offered by AAPC and NHA are only available online to candidates located in the US. AHIMA only offers in-person exams in both the US and Globally.

Instructors

Stacey O'Brien

Stacey O'Brien has more than 10 years of experience in medical coding and reimbursement. Ms. O'Brien has been a risk adjustment coder for a Medicare advantage plan, audited medical records for a consulting firm, and currently supervises the coding and electronic claims submission process for a group medical practice. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a CPC coding certification from the AAPC.

Carline Dalgleish

Carline Dalgleish has worked in medical office administration for over 30 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in business information systems, a master's degree in leadership, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in health information management. She is a registered health information administrator and an AHIMA-approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer. Dalgleish is the author of an ICD-10 coding system and also owns her own consulting firm, AnnGrant Educational Services.

Nancy Smith

Nancy Smith has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Her clinical experience includes working as a medical assistant for a network of rural health clinics, and as a medical coder, insurance claims specialist, and medical records auditor. She worked as a medical office manager for ten years, where she recruited and trained all medical assistants. Nancy holds a bachelor's degree in vocational education and has developed and taught medical assistant programs.

LaTisha Cottingham

LaTisha Cottingham has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She has six years of teaching experience in the field of medical billing and coding and medical assisting. Currently, she is employed as an HIM analyst for a long-term care establishment that is based out of Alabama. Previously she was employed as the lead instructor for the Allied Health Department for a local career institute. LaTisha's field of expertise is in the area of physician-based inpatient coding and emergency department coding. The certifications that she holds are as follows: a registered health information technician (RHIT), a certified professional coder (CPC), and a certified clinical medical assistant (CCMA). In preparation for ICD-10-CM, LaTisha received her ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainer Certification from the American Health Information Association (AHIMA), in which she is currently a member. LaTisha is also a member of the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) and the National Healthcare Association (NHA), for which she is a test proctor.

Lydia S. Stewart

Lydia S. Stewart, RN, BSN, currently serves as the revenue cycle manager at a large regional medical center. Lydia has been a registered nurse for 23 years, 15 of those years specializing in critical care nursing and supervision. She is responsible for medical audits, charge capture, and governmental compliance audits and reviews. Lydia is a member of the Louisiana Medical Auditor Association and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

Bunny Reeves

Bunny Reeves is the senior ambulatory surgery coder at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. She trains student coders at Maimonides Medical Center and previously trained and supervised entry-level coders at Staten Island's St. Vincent Medical Center. Reeves is a certified coding specialist, accredited by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Hilary Khouri

Hilary Khouri has ten years of experience in the medical field. After college, she began her medical career working in the front office of a group practice handling daily administrative tasks. Her medical experience also includes working at a healthcare consulting firm, where she reviewed electronic health records for completeness and educated providers on documentation improvement in addition to performing risk adjustment coding. She holds a bachelor's in fashion merchandising from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is a certified billing and coding specialist (CBCS) through the University of Alabama.

Medical Terminology Instructors

Our medical terminology course section is taught by multiple experienced instructors. See a full list of these instructors.

Registration and Enrollment

This course is 100% online. Start anytime.