# Medical Coding Specialist (Certificate of Achievement)

Bakersfield College · 2026-2027 Catalog · Department: Health Sciences

Source: https://bakersfield.elumenapp.com/catalog/2026-2027-Catalog/program/medical-coding-specialist-certificate-of-achievement-fall-2026v2

#### Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement

The Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement provides education for an entry-level position in a variety of healthcare settings such as acute care hospitals, physician offices, long-term care facilities, ambulatory care facilities, and more. The Medical Coding Specialist Program prepares students to abstract appropriate medical documentation and assign diagnostic and procedural codes in accordance with official coding and reporting guidelines and compliance regulations in order to facilitate reimbursement, analysis of patient outcomes, and research. Additionally, the Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement helps prepare students for a variety of entry-level medical coding certification examinations. After earning a Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement, students may be eligible to write for entry to a sorted array of medical coding certification exams such as the American Health Information Management’s Certified Coding Associate (CCA), Certified Coding Specialist (CCS), Certified Coding Specialist-Physician Based (CCS-P), and American Academy of Professional Coders' (AAPC) Certified Professional Coder (CPC) or Certified Professional Coder-Apprentice (CPC-A) and/or more. Upon completion of all graduation requirements, including maintaining a minimum grade point average of 2.0 and earning a grade of C or higher in all required program courses, the student will be awarded a Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement.

### Program Learning Outcomes

-   1\. Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to apply the knowledge and skills needed to perform Health Information Technology Associate Degree entry-level competencies as defined by the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) Council for Excellence in Education (CEE).

-   2\. Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to apply the knowledge and skills needed to successfully pass the national Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) exam.

-   3\. Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to apply biomedical knowledge (anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, medical terminology) to the process of clinical code assignment

-   4\. Upon successful completion of the program, the student will be able to demonstrate the ability to work effectively as an individual and collaboratively in a group to resolve health information challenges in a changing healthcare environment.

-   1\. At the conclusion of this program, the student should be able to apply biomedical knowledge to the process of clinical code assignment.

-   2\. At the conclusion of this program, the student should be able to assign diagnosis and procedure codes using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) official coding guidelines for inpatient and outpatient records.

-   3\. At the conclusion of this program, the student should be able to assign procedure and service codes using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT).

-   4\. At the conclusion of this program, the student should be able to use and maintain electronic applications and work processes to support clinical classifications and coding.

-   5\. At the conclusion of this program, the student should be able to demonstrate professional and behavior skills and adhere to the necessary ethical standards of coding for employment as a medical coder.

### Program Requirements

| Course | Title | Units |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Medical Coding Specialist Certificate of Achievement Requirements: Complete all of the following** | | 29 |
| **Core Courses: Complete all of the following** | | 29 |
| MEDS B37 | Medical Terminology | 3 |
| HEIT B60 | Human Form And Function | 3 |
| HEIT B12 | Basic Pharmacology | 3 |
| HEIT B13 | Human Disease | 3 |
| HEIT B20 | International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Coding I | 4 |
| HEIT B21 | International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Coding II | 4 |
| HEIT B22 | Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Coding | 3 |
| HEIT B25 | Healthcare Reimbursement | 3 |
| HEIT B31 | Professional Practice: Health Information Coding Specialist | 3 |