News & Updates - Pharmacy Technician

Becoming an IT Specialist in New Orleans

Think of the American corporate workforce. What does it run on? If you answered technology, email, and the Internet, you answered well. Visit any workplace and you’ll see that Information Technology is everywhere. And, while the majority of workers rely on this technology, most do not know how to implement, monitor, or even maintain it. That’s why Information Technology Specialists (IT Specialist for short) are in demand.

You may be wondering what IT Specialists do. The truth is, their roles vary and really depend on the need of the organizations that employ them. However, generally speaking, IT Specialists administer databases, technological systems, and computer networks. They may have to analyze office networks to improve efficiency, audit technology that is in place, or oversee the security of servers and databases used by the company. Information Technology always has been a growing field because technology continues to evolve at lightening-speed. This means that Information Technology Specialist jobs are pretty abundant across the country, particularly in New Orleans.

IT Specialist Jobs in New Orleans

Are you someone who loves technology and likes to wear many hats? If so, an IT Specialist job may be ideal for you. Not only will you be in a field that you love and that will keep you on your toes, you’ll also have an opportunity to make a great salary. According to Glassdoor, Information Technology Specialists in New Orleans, LA make an average annual salary of $55,526.00. And, if you move out of the state, there will be comfort in knowing that the national average salary for IT Specialist jobs happens to be $69,088.00 a year.

If a high annual salary is not enough to convince you to become an Information Technology Specialist, perhaps this statistic will. Computerworld.com reports that jobs within computer related occupations will increase by 22% by the year 2020. The most in-demand IT jobs will fall within the field of software development which has an expected increase of 28-32%.

How to Get Started

If you you’re looking for IT Specialist jobs in New Orleans, the best thing you can do to get started is to get your certification. Certification will set you apart from other candidates in the field. Getting certified is easy too thanks to Allied Prep. The school has an IT Support Technician program that provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to not only pass the CompTIA A+ Certification exam, but also enter into positions as computer technicians, IT technicians, field technicians, desktop support technicians, or PC support technicians.

Ready to learn more? Contact Allied Prep today and ask to receive information on our IT Support Technician program. Also inquire about our financial aid options as we’re committed to making education affordable for every student.

2017 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting has been Released

Recently, it was announced that the 2017 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting was released. The newest iteration of the Guidelines can be accessed and downloaded from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ website for those who are interested. According to reports, the latest version has several key changes and the newly established guidelines actually explain what changes have been made to the code set.

It’s important to note that four organizations are responsible for approving the Guidelines before they are released. These organizations are the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the American Hospital Association (AHA).

What are the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines?

Many people wonder what the Guidelines are. Essentially, the Guidelines are a set of rules that must be followed by healthcare professionals. They were developed to accompany the instructions set forth by the ICD-10-CM. However, the instructions set forth by the ICD-10-CM take precedence over the Guidelines. When diagnosis codes are assigned to patients’ medical records, medical coders must adhere to the Guidelines. This is required and mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). All healthcare providers in the U.S. have adopted the diagnosis codes under HIPAA.

Why are the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines So Important?

Medical billers and coders have a difficult job to do as they must assign the correct diagnosis codes to patients’ records. Failure to do so can have an adverse impact not only on healthcare professionals administering treatment, but also patients. Therefore, healthcare providers and medical coders must work as a team to ensure all documentation is correct. This includes the assignment of codes as well as documentation of procedures, treatments, and diagnosis. The guidelines were specifically created to help medical coders and healthcare providers when they need to identify diagnosis. If these diagnosis codes did not exist, patient documents would not be accurate. Furthermore, other healthcare providers who may need to review a patient’s record would have a difficult time understanding what conditions the patient has been diagnosed with as well as the treatments he/she has received. The codes ensure that all professionals involved have only the most accurate, up-to-date information and protect the patient.

If you have additional questions related to the 2017 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, we encourage to visit CDC.gov for more detailed information.

Medical Billing from Home: Study Online, Work Online

One of the many benefits of working as a medical biller is that you might be able to work from home. A number of companies that offer medical billing jobs allow billers to do their work entirely over the internet, letting them work from home, a coffee shop, or really anywhere in the world.

If you’re interested in medical billing from home, you might want to consider contract positions with hospitals, doctor’s offices, or other medical facilities. Some of these companies will also offer full-time medical billing jobs that can be done remotely.

Working from home has a lot of great benefits. For one thing, it lets you be more flexible with your time. If you prefer to get work done late at night, you can do that. Or if you need to work around the schedules of your kids or other important commitments, that’s possible, too. Working from home also gives you more flexibility about where you look for jobs – you don’t need to be within driving distance of the company you work for. It also gives you back all the time that you would otherwise spend commuting.

But what about school? Is it possible to learn medical billing from home?

Absolutely. At Allied Prep, we offer medical billing school online, letting you take practice exams and learn from qualified instructors all from the comfort of your own home. This makes it possible for people who are currently employed to get the training they need without losing their current jobs. It also makes it possible for people who need scheduling flexibility to learn medical coding according to their own timetable.

Medical billing jobs are in high demand, and they can offer a rewarding career path for people looking to go in a new direction as well as students fresh out of high school. Invest in yourself with a medical billing course that will give you the skills and knowledge to step into a rewarding career.

To learn more about Allied Prep’s online medical billing course, contact us today. We can provide you with additional information about what will be covered, what medical billers do, and our financial aid options.

CPMA Exam Tips and Preparation

The Certified Professional Medical Auditor (CPMA) exam is the test that you must pass in order to step into a job as a medical auditor. These jobs can be quite lucrative and are a great next step for professional medical coders or billers.

CPMA exams cover a number of topics, including general coding concepts, quality assurance, communication of results, the medical record, and government guidelines for medical documentation fraud and abuse reporting. Currently, the exam costs $350 to take and allows one free retake.

CPMA Exam Prep

The first step in CPMA exam prep is understanding the format of the exam and what will be expected of you. In your years of experience as a medical biller or medical coder, you’ll have already gained a lot of the experience necessary to do well on the test. But you will need to expand your knowledge, particularly of fraud detection and other auditing skills, in order to pass the exam.

The exam is a 150 question test made up entirely of multiple choice questions. You’ll be given five hours and forty minutes to complete the test, and you will be able to use your coding manuals during the whole thing. The AAPC recommends that test takers bring their own copy of the Current CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS Level II manuals.

Prepare the Smart Way

CPMA exams are notoriously difficult, so it’s important to prepare diligently in advance.

The best way to do that is with a CPMA certification course. By meeting regularly with a qualified instructor, either online or in a classroom, and practicing your skills in advance of the test, you can greatly increase your odds of passing the first time. Our best CPMA exam tips are to take practice tests early and often, and you’ll be able to do exactly that in our CPMA certification program.

Beyond exam prep, Allied Prep’s CPMA course also helps prepare students for a career as a medical auditor. The course will provide you with practical knowledge and skills that will help you step into a medical auditing job quickly and excel at your work.

Learn more about Allied Prep’s CPMA certification program by contacting our school today. You can also stop by the campus or fill out this form to request more information.

Allied Prep Financial Aid Overview: Helping Students Get the Education They Deserve

Here at Allied Prep, we believe that every person deserves the chance to get the career training they need in order to support themselves and their loved ones. We work hard to make our courses as affordable and accessible as possible so that every student who wants to learn from us has that opportunity. It’s why we started our programs to learn medical billing and coding online, and it’s why we offer a variety of payment options to ease the burden of tuition.

The first option is to pay your course and material fees online with a credit or debit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. If you pay this way, your full payment is required at the time of registration.

The next option is to use PayPal Credit. This is also an online payment, but it doesn’t require that you have a credit card or a debit card. To use this option, you will need to create a PayPal account and submit your full payment at the time of registration.

The final and most flexible option is our “pay as you learn” option. This option lets students break their payments into two or three pieces. You will pay $600 when you register, and then you’ll have until the midpoint of your course (twelve weeks) to pay the rest of your balance. The one drawback of this option is that it requires a $50 administrative fee to set up. There are also penalties if you are unable to pay the remainder of your balance by the midpoint.

If none of these options will work for your situation, give our office a call at 504-304-8826 to learn about more financial aid opportunities. We don’t want cost to be what keeps you from learning, so we strive to meet you wherever you may be in life.

Whether your goal is to become a pharmacy technician or become an IT support technician, we want to help you get there. In just 18 weeks, you could be stepping into a rewarding, respected, and well-paying career. Give us a call or drop by the campus to learn how we can help you reach your dreams.

Medical Billing & Coding: Career Facts You May Not Know

Medical billing and coding jobs are expanding around the country. As the population of the United States ages and medicine gets better, more people need medical care on a regular basis, which means that professions within the health care field are growing and will continue to grow for at least the next ten years.

If you’re thinking about getting certified as a medical biller or a medical coder, here are a few things about medical coding and billing careers that you may not know:

Medical Billers and Medical Coders Do Different Jobs

The terms “medical billing” and “medical coding” often get used interchangeably, but medical billers and medical coders actually do different (though related) jobs. Medical coders are the people who look at personal medical records and figure out how to properly code medical procedures, prescriptions, and diagnoses so that the person’s insurance company can be billed.

Medical billers are the people in charge of making sure that people are billed correctly. They work with insurance companies, patients, and medical coders to ensure that things don’t get overlooked and the right party pays for the right service. Both jobs require strong attention to detail and are usually done out of offices.

Medical Coding and Billing are Evolving

The latest coding system that medical billers and coders have to know is ICD-10. That stands for the tenth version of the International Classification of Diseases. This coding system gets updated every few years to reflect new technology, better classifications, and medical advances. It’s important for people who learn medical billing and coding to stay on top of their training over the course of their careers.

Medical Billers and Coders Don’t Need Advanced Degrees

You don’t have to go to a two- or four-year school to be successful as a medical biller or coder. As long as you have your high school diploma or GED, you can learn everything you need to know in order to pass your medical coding certification exam in just 18 weeks.

Allied Prep offers both online and in-class courses and financial aid opportunities to make it as easy as possible to earn your certificate. Learn more about our programs and about the career opportunities for medical billers and coders contacting us today!

Medical Billing and Coding Jobs in New Orleans on the Rise

According to PayScale.com, medical billing and coding careers are smart paths to be on. Medical billing and coding jobs in New Orleans are on the rise, as they are nationally. This is partly due to the fact that our population is aging, and partly due to the fact that people are living longer thanks to constant improvements in medicine.

PayScale reports that New Orleans medical billing and coding jobs have a median entry level salary of over $33,000 per year. The jobs with the highest starting salaries are regularly found in hospitals. As your years of experience go up, so will your salary. For example, people with three to five years of experience in New Orleans make a median salary of $38,460. People with eleven or more years of experience make $45,999.

Again, those are the median salaries. Depending upon where exactly you find a job, you might make less, or you might make more. Ten percent of medical coders make $45,000 as their starting salary.

Jobs in medical coding and billing also have room to grow. After working as a medical coder for a while, you could gain the experience necessary to step into a job as a certified coding specialist (with a median salary of $41,164) or a medical coding auditor (with a median salary of $50,331). The cost of living in New Orleans is quite low, so a person could support themselves nicely on even an entry level medical coder’s salary.

Plus, the majority of medical coders and billers in New Orleans also receive job benefits. According to PayScale, 58% of entry level medical coders receive dental, medical, and vision benefits. 19% receive just medical benefits, and only 10% receive no benefits at all.

Medical billing and coding careers are an excellent choice for people in New Orleans. Whether you’re looking to start your first career, change career paths, or get back to work after a few years at home, a certification in medical billing or medical coding can be your path to a more successful future. In just eighteen weeks, you can complete the necessary courses to pass your certification exam, which is all you need (plus your high school diploma) to qualify for entry level medical coding jobs.

To learn more, contact us or stop by our campus. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.

Pharmacy Technician Job Statistics: These Careers are in Demand

Pharmacy technician jobs are in high demand around the country, and we’re not just saying that. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the choice to become a pharmacy technician will put you on a high-demand career path.

BLS is a government organization that offers unbiased data about different careers. According to their pharmacy technician job statistics, there were about 372,500 pharmacy technician jobs across the country in 2014. By 2024, the number is expected to go up by 9%, which is considered faster than average.

BLS also reports that the median pharmacy technician salary in 2015 was $30,410 per year. That works out to $14.62 per hour. The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) offers similar statistics. This is the board that offers the pharmacy technician certification, which you must pass in order to get an entry-level job as a pharmacy technician. PTCB breaks down the employment numbers a bit further, sharing how much you can make as a pharmacy technician in different settings. For example, in a hospital the median annual salary for a technician is currently $35,280. In a department store, the median salary is $29,220, and in a pharmacy or drugstore the median is $28,360.

Depending upon what part of the country you work in and how much experience you have, your expected salary could be more or less. The top 10% of pharmacy technicians earn an average of $45,030 per year.

And again, more of these jobs are popping up every year. In fact, US News has listed pharmacy technicians in their rankings of the Best Jobs. They point out that the field is growing in part because Baby Boomers are aging and life expectancies are getting longer.

If you want to take a look at current pharmacy technician jobs available in your area, PTCB shares two resources for doing just that. Both the National Pharmacy Technician Association and the American Association of Pharmacy Technicians have online career centers that allow you to look for jobs in your area.

Ready to Become a Pharmacy Technician?

If you’re excited about the career possibilities offered by becoming a pharmacy technician, contact Allied Prep to learn more about our online pharmacy technician school. In just eighteen weeks, you can complete the necessary training to pass the pharmacy technician exam and qualify for entry-level positions at hospitals, doctor’s offices, pharmacies.

Can I Learn Medical Billing and Coding from Home?

Perhaps you’ve heard that you can make great money and work better hours as a medical biller or a medical coder. Medical billing and coding careers are hot right now, because more of these positions are appearing all of the time. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that these careers will grow at a much faster rate than average over the next ten years.

But you already work a full time job, and you can’t take time off to go to school. Or maybe you have a young family that needs you at home. Who would watch your kids while you were in class? Or maybe you don’t live anywhere near a school where you can learn medical billing and coding.

Fortunately, you can learn medical billing and coding from home in just eighteen weeks. At Allied Prep, we offer online courses in both medical billing and medical coding. The course work allows you to access practice problem sets, lectures, help from the instructor, and practice certification exams, all from the comfort of your own home.

All you need is an internet connection, and you can start down the path to a more rewarding career. Online coursework gives you the flexibility to learn and study according to your own schedule. It cuts out the need for finding babysitters and sitting in traffic to get to class. Online classes are also more affordable than their in-class alternatives.

Medical billers and coders enjoy great career paths. Either job can lead to higher level positions in hospital or medical office administration. In these jobs, you can expect to work regular hours, have opportunities to work overtime at a great rate, and be in-demand around the country. The main obstacle to getting started is that you need to be certified to qualify for these positions.

But that doesn’t have to be an obstacle with online courses from Allied Prep. In as little as eighteen weeks, you can learn all the skills and knowledge that you need to pass the certification exam.

Learn more about our online courses by contacting Allied Prep today!

Announcing Allied Prep’s New IT Support Technician Program

Allied Prep is pleased to announce a new addition to our course offerings. The IT Support Technician Program gives students the skills and knowledge that they need to become an IT technician at a large company, a small IT firm, or as a freelancer.

Our IT technician school is an 16-week in-class program that prepares students to pass the CompTIA A+ certification test. This certificate is nationally recognized, and it’s a necessary first step toward a career in IT support.

IT technicians are needed in virtually every major company around the country. IT technician jobs can lead to management positions. They can also lay the base for further technical training in the lucrative and growing field of technology.

The IT Support Technician program does not currently offer an online IT technician certification. Instead, students come to our state-of-the-art learning center to gain hands-on experience. The class is led by an instructor with over fifteen years of experience in IT. He has worked in both government and private industry positions, and he is Microsoft certified. Every time students come into class, they’ll be given opportunities to learn from his experience.

Classes deal with real-world problems and situations faced by IT technicians. The goal of the program is to not just help you pass the certification exam, but to also give you the practical skills and know-how to succeed in an entry level IT job. You’ll gain a solid understanding of the job itself, the work environments you’d be a part of, and the knowledge you’ll need to advance.

Of course, you’ll also have opportunities to take practice CompTIA A+ certification exams. Taking practice tests multiple times will help you become familiar with the format, the style, and the content you can expect to be tested on.

A new career could be just eighteen weeks away. Whether you’re struggling to find a job out of high school, can’t get anywhere with your bachelor’s degree, or are tired of your current career path, getting certified in a practical skill like IT can help you turn your entire life around. It technicians often work regular hours, enjoy employee benefits, have opportunities to advance, and make a great starting salary.

Learn more by contacting us today!

Blogs

Month: September 2016