VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
COURSE OF STUDY

Instructor: Melba H. Taylor
Phone Number: 676-5484, Ext. 257
Office: Room 718

Email: mtaylor@vh.cc.va.us

COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE

AST 176 - Medical Office/Unit Management - 3 credits

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Develop administrative and support skills for a medical setting including effective communications, ethical and legal issues, research techniques, and insurance claims processing. Lecture 3 hours per week.

COURSE GOALS

Communication, Learning Skills, Critical Thinking, Computational and Computer Skills, Science and Technology

To develop administrative and support skills for a medical office

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

-Communication, Learning Skills, Critical Thinking, Computational and Computer Skills, Understanding Science and Technology

-To use a software program for insurance claims processing, new billing codes patient transactions, and insurance forms

-Learning Skills, Critical Thinking, Computational and Computer Skills

-To develop communication skills and research techniques for a medical office.

-Learning Skills, Critical Thinking, Computational and Computer Skills

-To understand ethical and legal issues related to a medical office

TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLIES

  1. Medical Assisting: A Patient Centered Approach to Administrative and Clinical Competencies, by Prickette-Ramutkowski, Barrie, Keller, Dazarow, and Abel, 1999.

  2. Workbook for Medical Assisting: A Patient Centered Approach to Administrative and Clinical Competencies, by Prickette-Ramutkowski, Barrie, Keller, Dazarow, and Abel, 1999.

  3. Patient Billing Using Medisoft for Windows, by Harpole, 1998.

  4. 3 High-density 3.5" diskettes

  5. Pen or pencil

ATTENDANCE

If you are absent for any reason, the work you miss is YOUR responsibility. You should make arrangements with a classmate to get the notes of the class work you missed. All daily assignments MUST be made up. Excessive absences WILL affect your grade! If you are going to miss a test/exam, you must notify the instructor in ADVANCE. She will schedule a make-up provided you have an acceptable excuse and have notified her in advance.

ASSIGNMENTS

When you are assigned a project/activity to be completed, you will be given a due date. It is very important that you have the project/activity completed by this date because points will be deducted if it is turned in late.

GRADING SCALE

A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 0-59

CRITERIA FOR GRADING

Workbook/Chapter Assignments

 10%

Four (4) Exams - [15% each]

 60%

Interview of Medical Specialist

 10%

Assessment Test from Simulation

 20%

AREAS TO BE COVERED
Chapters 1-4 Exam 1
Chapters 5-10 Exam 2
Chapters 11-14 Exam 3
Chapters 15-18 Exam 4
Patient Billings Chapters 1-7 Assessment Test

EXTRA CREDIT

Extra credit is available through service learning. You may volunteer your time to help an agency in this region. You will need to keep a journal which you will record the date, time, and activities you are involved in. You will also be required to report to the class orally about this activity. If you are interested in earning extra credit through service learning, please see me and I will refer you to Quintin Doromal, Room 208C, Ext. 202. I would prefer you volunteered in some aspect of the medical field. Extra Credits points will be based upon the length of activity. However, the points earned will range from 1 to 10 points. Ten points will require 10 hours of time.

ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

Any type of academic misconduct (such as plagiarism, offering, or soliciting information on a test, etc.) is prohibited. In order to know your rights and responsibilities, I suggest you refer to your Student Handbook. In addition, disruptive behavior is not acceptable. You may be asked to leave the class, receive a failing grade, or be dropped from the course entirely.

COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All tests, papers, projects, and other written activities will be kept by the instructor after they are returned to the student. By accepting this syllabus and registering for this course, the student agrees to these terms.

NO WITHDRAWALS WILL BE APPROVED AFTER THE LAST OFFICIAL DAY TO WITHDRAW WITHOUT GRADE PENALTY. NO EXCEPTIONS!