Why no specialty?

Originally Posted by Lang1725

I have my exam on Saturday to become certified as a CPC coder. I think I will probably continue with my studies and become licensed as a COC and/or CIC coder so that I have options. I really like the idea of also becoming a specialty coder, but I didn't see "Behavioral Health" listed. I was a psychology major in school and it's an area I'm really interested in. Plus, I've found that with my knowledge of the subject, it seems to be the easiest thing for me to code. And the most interesting.

I don't understand why you can't specialize in this area. Does anyone have any insight?

Thanks!

You can contact AAPC and make a suggestion that they create a specialty certification. Depending on how many make a particular request, they may or may not create a new certification. If only a handful make a suggestion, I guess it would not be worth the time and effort.

I recently suggested a radiology certification because I think many would want that, even though there is certification available through another body. The problem with a lot of these 'other bodies' is that they want you to have a certain exposure to the specialty before they will allow you to take their exam. How generous of them. Not with AAPC though (I passed the anesthesia certification having never coded the specialty which shows the worthless value of needing 'experience' in a particular discipline before taking a test). I was grateful for the opportunity to learn anesthesia before coding it rather than the other way round.

So, go ahead and make that request. They can only say no.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Why no specialty?