To provide students with the concepts and skills to gain employment in an outpatient setting. Students will be prepared to perform administrative and clinical duties under the direction of a physician, mid-level provider, or licensed nurse.
In this course, you’ll develop the necessary skills to ensure your success in the program. You’ll learn how you can improve your study skills, so you’re able to use a number of tools that will help you to be successful. This course will also introduce you to healthcare, the healthcare industry in the United States, and the roles that healthcare workers play in that industry.
In this course, you’ll learn how law affects healthcare practitioners, the origin of law that affects medical professionals, the basics of the process of litigation and its alternatives, the common-law basis for the confidentiality of healthcare information, and the laws regulating healthcare information collected and maintained by government agencies.
This course introduces the reimbursement process and the various methodologies involved, such as fee-for-service and episode-of-care methodologies. The course also covers important information regarding payment systems, fee schedules, chargemasters, coding, and the internal audit process. Finally, the course explains the fundamentals and types of health insurance and provides test preparation for the certification exam.
This course will familiarize you with various body systems including medical terms, structure, function, diseases, disorders, and treatments. You’ll also learn drug delivery systems, drug administration routes, drug classifications, and commonly used medications for various organ system disorders.
This course is a continuation of Body Systems and Medical Terminology 1. You’ll continue to learn about various body systems, drug delivery systems, drug administration routes, drug classifications, and commonly used medications for various organ system disorders. You’ll also learn basic medication calculations, storage, how to assist patients with administration, and proper documentation.
This course describes healthcare professionals who can identify the four subdivisions of pharmacology and different drug classifications, including vitamins and minerals. Pathology and Pharmacology will also prepare you to explain the causes of infectious disease and techniques used to stop its spread. Finally, you’ll review the basic etiology of common diseases and conditions.
This course is designed to help you understand the reimbursement process and the various methodologies involved. You’ll be introduced to billing cycles and how health information technology is used in medical offices, and learn about basic accounting transaction terminology and apply this information to enter patient charges and payments.
In this course, you’ll begin with an overview of coding concepts, terms, and procedures. You’ll explore the history of the ICD-10 coding system. You’ll code diagnoses in the ICD-10-CM and use the chapter-specific coding guidelines to code diseases and conditions with specific and unique rules. You’ll then learn how to code procedures in the ICD-10-PCS, rounding out your training in the basics of coding with ICD-10.
Then, you’ll concentrate on the diagnoses or procedures that don’t seem to fit into any specific coding category. You’ll also learn about general coding guidelines for inpatient and outpatient procedures and physician office coding using CPT, HCPCS Level I, and HCPCS Level II procedure coding.
This course, Clinical Procedures Theory, will provide you with the theoretical principles and clinical skills that are essential to working as a medical assistant. These tasks range from greeting patients and getting information from them to administering injectable medication and teaching patients about special procedures and their plan of care. An applied learning approach to the role of the medical assistant is threaded throughout each unit of the textbook.
This course focuses on clinical lab procedures. The first thing to take care of while working in a clinical lab is safety. The spread of infection and diseases can compromise the specimens and the people who work in the labs. As you plan on taking the responsibilities associated with the healthcare setting, you must understand that discipline is extremely important to analyze and perform the tasks related to labs. This course will not only provide you with tasks to practice your skills in the field, it will also help you understand the effective techniques used to ease the lab processes. Read the lessons carefully and apply the knowledge on completing the tasks assigned in the course to be a successful healthcare professional.
The medical assistant externship provides you with hands-on training in a primary care clinic, an urgent care clinic, or a medical practice. The goal of this externship is to provide you with the hands-on experience necessary for developing your skills as a medical assistant. You'll practice under the direct supervision of a certified medical assistant, nurse, physician assistant, or medical doctor. This externship consists of 160 hours of clinical experience. You're required to complete and submit weekly timesheets signed by your externship preceptor.
Penn Foster College has been nationally accredited for over 40 years, and has met the high standards of integrity and performance set by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) in Washington, D.C. Penn Foster College has been thoroughly reviewed and has earned several important accreditations and licensing. We also participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements.
While you can study independently, you’re not alone! With a dedicated Student Services department, the Student Community, and instructors just a call away, you’ll have access to the support you need.
Over the course of the Penn Foster Medical Assistant program, you will have the opportunity to attend recorded webinars to help you better understand your lessons. The webinars will allow you to ask our instructors questions in real time.
Our customizable goal-setting tools will help you create a schedule and stick to it. Need some extra time to complete a lesson? Not a problem — you can adjust your study plan at any time to set a pace that works for you.
Looking to connect with other Penn Foster students? Our Student Community is the perfect place for you to interact with your peers — as well as Penn Foster faculty and staff — to discuss your online learning experience, congratulate fellow students, and share your Penn Foster experience.
Penn Foster courses are written in a way that is easy to understand, with materials broken down into manageable lessons. Take a look at what your medical assistant classes would look like.
