Medical Record Coding Certificate (MRCO)

Medical Record Coding is a completely ONLINE certificate program.

The Medical Record Coding Certificate program is designed to prepare health information professionals who focus on medical record management with an emphasis on procedural and diagnostic coding for reimbursement of professional services performed in healthcare facilities. The program includes medical terminology, human disease process, pharmacology, medical billing, procedural and diagnostic coding and medical records regulations. Upon successful completion of the Medical Record Coding Certificate program, the student may be eligible to take the certification examinations administered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and/or the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

Admission Requirements

• Must meet the general admission requirements and graduation requirements for all Health Sciences students listed at the beginning of the Health Sciences program section of this catalog.
• Students must be graduates of an accredited high school or possess a General Education Development (GED) certificate.
• The Central Carolina Technical College registrar must have receipt of all official transcripts (including high school and all regionally accredited institutions for desired course transfer).
• Must meet computer competency required for placement in online courses.
• Qualified applicants must have completed all developmental and prerequisite courses prior to acceptance into the health information management courses (HIM).
• The Medical Record Coding Program has limited enrollment and students are admitted annually in the fall semester.
• Acceptance into the health information management courses is contingent upon students completing the Medical Recording Coding application form and submitting it to the Medical Record Coding Program Manager.
• Applicants will be accepted as they submit completed applications to the program manager until all seats are filled.
• No student may apply to more than one Health Sciences program at a time.

Progression Standards-After Program Entry

Failure to meet progression standards results in suspension from the program.

• After admission, students must maintain a minimum 2.0 program GPA on program curriculum courses at Central Carolina Technical College in order to progress.
• Must earn a minimum of “C” or higher in each required curriculum course for the program. Students may retake courses completed with less than a “C” one time only.
• Must successfully complete all components of a course (theory, practicum) in order to pass the course. Students who fail to complete a component will receive a grade of “F” for the course regardless of the time in the semester and are not eligible to receive a “W” through the withdrawal process.
• Students are limited to two attempts at successful completion of any medical coding program (including Central Carolina Technical College). A “D”, “W”, “WA”, or “WF” constitutes an attempt at the MRCO program and will count as one attempt to complete the program.
• Withdrawal “W” constitutes an attempt at a HIM course and will count as one attempt to complete the program.
• Students must complete all course requirements within two years of starting date of first HIM course (HIM 103 ).

Developmental Courses

This program of study requires that all developmental courses be completed prior to graduation. These developmental courses may or may not be prerequisites to courses required in the program. Developmental courses are determined by placement tests taken at the time of admission into the College. The developmental courses are MAT 013  and RWR 032 . These courses do not count for credit in any program of study.

Following is a list of courses required to complete this program. Courses should be taken in the following sequence in order to complete the program in a timely manner: