Online Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Course: What's Included

Estimated Length of program:
4-6 months, self-paced.

Certification:
Certified Electronic Health Record Specialist (CEHRS) exam.

Program Goal:
To prepare students to take the CEHRS certification exam and gain an entry-level EMR Specialist position.

Program Outcomes

The Electronic Medical Records Specialist Course provides students with a firm foundation in electronic record principles and practices, preparing them for entry-level positions in the field. Starting with an introduction to the world of healthcare, students review insurance and medical terminology, and explore various types of medical records and record management. The course ensures students have a good understanding of the process to release medical records and when consent is necessary. This course stresses the importance of healthcare law, as well as physician responsibilities, while also covering the basics of coding and billing. Students work with practice management software to obtain hands on skills. Finally, the course concludes with statistical calculations, which include census data, bed occupancy and length of stay, as well as morbidity and mortality rates. The coursework trains students to:

Curriculum

Instruction Pack I: Welcome to the World of Healthcare

The EMR Specialist Course begins with an introduction to the world of healthcare and the team involved in healthcare professions. Lessons outline insurance terminology, tools used in healthcare professions and types of health insurance. Students learn about the documentation in medical records, as well as the basics of good recording practices. Students gain a solid foundation in medical terminology using a unique word-building system to help them interpret new terms.

Instruction Pack II: Electronic Records and Record Management

Students wrap up their medical terminology lessons by learning to recognize and interpret hundreds of new medical terms. Students also examine resources available to the healthcare professional. After a short introduction to electronic records, students examine their roles as EMR Specialists. Students look at administrative and clinical information found in medical records, as well as how to organize documents within the record. Along the way, students explore agencies that develop and maintain standards in health care.

Instruction Pack III: Healthcare Law and Reimbursement

Students discover the healthcare laws established to protect the patient’s privacy. The course focuses on the rights and responsibilities of the patient, as well as the physician’s responsibility. Students learn the history and development of the various coding systems and discover how coding affects reimbursement. Finally, students learn to effectively deal with delayed and denied claims, as well as how to work aging reports.

Instruction Pack IV: Practice Management and Reporting

Students build on what they know about electronic records and develop their skills in creating records and scheduling appointments in a practice management system. After learning the details of documentation and meaningful use, students will create an encounter in an EHR. Finally, students learn about reporting with some hands-on calculations of statistics. Census data provides the numbers needed to calculate daily inpatient census and inpatient service days, while bed occupancy rates determine the number of beds available during a specific period. After exploring the process of determining the length of stay, students learn to calculate morbidity and mortality rates.