Office Administration (OST)

This course introduces fundamentals of medical insurance and billing. Emphasis is placed on the medical billing cycle to include third party payers, coding concepts, and form preparation. Upon completion, students should be able to explain the life cycle of and accurately complete a medical insurance claim.

This course introduces the complex legal, moral, and ethical issues involved in providing health-care services. Emphasis is placed on the legal requirements of medical practices; the relationship of physician, patient, and office personnel; professional liabilities; and medical practice liability. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of current medical law and accepted ethical behavior.

This course provides a comprehensive study of editing skills needed in the workplace. Emphasis is placed on grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, proofreading, and editing. Upon completion, students should be able to use reference materials to compose and edit text.

This course introduces the skills and abilities needed to conduct a variety of office administration activities using the latest technology. Students will learn the proper etiquette of communicating electronically as well as theunique procedures and logistics for conducting business in the virtual office. Upon completion, students will know the vocabulary of the virtual office and will have a basic understanding of modern technical communication tools.

This course introduces medical systems used to process information in the automated office. Topics include traditional and electronic information resources, storing and retrieving information, and the billing cycle. Upon completion, students should be able to use the computer accurately to schedule, bill, update, and make corrections.

This course provides a hands-on approach in processing medical documents. Emphasis is placed on creating and editing medical documents. Upon completion, students should be able to prepare accurately formatted medical documents.

This course provides in-depth coverage of procedural coding. Emphasis is placed on CPT and HCPCS coding systems. Upon completion, students should be able to properly code procedures and services performed in a medical facility.

This course provides an in-depth study of diagnostic coding. Emphasis is placed on ICD coding system. Upon completion, students should be able to properly code diagnoses in a medical facility.

This course provides the soft skills necessary for effective communication and maintaining customer satisfaction in healthcare. Emphasis is placed on the importance of positive attitudes, techniques for handling difficult/angry customers, rephrasing blunt communication for better results, and the communication skills required to discuss topics such as insurance and billing issues with the patient and other medical personnel. Upon completion, students should be able to communicate information in a professional manner.

This course provides instruction on how to apply regulations and policies to perform medical record audits for provider services. Emphasis is placed on understanding the scope of an audit, statistical sampling methodologies, performing a medical record audit, and compiling data for reports to improve the revenue cycle for healthcare services. Upon completion, students should be able to perform a medical audit.

This course focuses on the use of electronic health records in medical documentation and patient management. Emphasis is placed on creating and maintaining patient medical information, scheduling patient appointments, documenting patient encounters, and billing/insurance claim processing. Upon completion, students should be able to perform the required software tasks following a patient visit from start to finish.

This course covers the personal competencies and qualities needed to project a professional image in the office. Topics include interpersonal skills, health lifestyles, appearance, attitude, personal and professional growth, multicultural awareness, and professional etiquette. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate these attributes in the classroom, office, and society.

This course is designed to be a capstone course for the medical office professional and provides a working knowledge of medical office procedures. Emphasis is placed on written and oral communication skills, practice management, electronic health records, medical office procedures, ethics, and professional development. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate the skills necessary to manage a medical office.