Frequently Asked
Questions
Q. I have
signed up for the above course. I have the CD and have downloaded Adobe
Reader. My question is, "Do I have to "run" the CD every time I use it?"
When I have it in the computer, I go to the CD icon or into the CD documents and
only find the sheet of medical
terminology words.
A. Each time you use the CD, follow the instructions
on the label. They when you see the first picture on the screen, use the page
arrows in the lower right hand corner of the screen and follow screen
instructions after that. Do not go into the files directly on the CD.
To run the CD, have it in the CD drive and it should start by itself.
If not, then click on “Start”, then click on “Run”, then type in
“D:Launch”. If your CD drive is
another letter than “D”, use that letter instead.
Q. Please clear up for me how we go back and forth from the
CD and Blackboard.
A. The CD is independent of Blackboard. The course
study material is on the CD. The weekly tests and some download material
are on Blackboard that you access via the internet. Follow the instructions on
the CD as to when to go on Blackboard and take the test. You do a number of
chapters on the CD and then follow the instructions to go to Blackboard and take
the test on the chapters you just finished studying. Do the chapters over as
many times as you need to before you go to Blackboard to take the test.
Use the Student Progress Report to keep track of what you are doing on
the CD. This is for your use only.
Q. Is it okay to work ahead on your lessons.
Like this is week two and I'm about ready to take test 3. Is it okay? I
am going to be moving and I want to be ahead of schedule so I don't take a
chance of getting behind for my phone lines and internet might be down for a few
days.
A. Yes, working ahead is great. The material is presented in weekly
segments merely as a service to students so they have a track to run on.
Have a plan and work the plan. That is the idea here.
You can take any weekly test at any time during the entire course.
Q.
The system said that my first answer on the test was incorrect but it is
impossible because I gave the correct spelling.
The answer they have that I entered is the same as answer they have as
the correct answer. Please advise on
this matter and my new test score"
A. What you did was inadvertently
put a space (using the space bar) in front of your answer.
The computer read this as incorrect and told you the correct answer was
what you just wrote. This appears
confusing since you don't see the blank space.
There is nothing you can do about the score.
Be careful about unwanted spaces.
Q.
Is there a way that we can print out each lesson or chapter?
I have been able to get the CD's up and running, but have not found an
option to print the material. Thought I might be overlooking something.
Please advise"
A. There is a way to print out each
screen page. However, it is not part
of the program you have on the CD. The
program is called "Snagit" and you can get a free copy at http://www.techsmith.com.
You activate this program before you launch the CD, then when you come to
a page on the CD you want to print, you hold down the shift-Ctrl keys and press
"P".
Q.
I have my CD up and running, so we will only be online when we communicate thru
email? I just follow with instructions on CD as per your letter
A. Yes, that is the way this course will work. Enter your chapter score (based
on 100%) for each chapter. If you
score less than 85% on any chapter, you should not enter that score but repeat
the chapter as many times as necessary to get 85% or better. This is your guide
that you have mastered the material before you go on. The scores here have
nothing to do with your final grade. Only
the scores you get on Blackboard have anything to do with your grade.
Q.
I was wondering if the tests are timed.
A.
No, they are not timed. However, you
can't leave the test part way through and then come back and finish it later.
You will get an "incomplete" and be prohibited from taking it
again.
Q.
I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly.
We do the assignments on the CD and these are just for us to do and study
and learn from. Then we go to the "assignment" section via
blackboard.com and take the test when ready.
Do you need any of the tests scores from the CD or is this just for us to
study and learn by?
A.
You have it right. The scores on the
CD are for your benefit to let you know how you are doing.
Use these as a guideline to determine if you should do the chapter over
again. The scores on Blackboard are the ones I am interested in.
Q.
I did not realize that the quizzes were a one time only, and I tried to answer
them to see what I knew. I didn't do
well by not looking over the whole assignment.
Also, I noticed if you misspell a word like in one answer I must have
held down the l too long and it spelled controll instead of control and it
counted it as wrong.
A. Computers are very unforgiving. Spelling
counts, for one thing. Watch you
spacing as well. Most of the
questions in the quizzes are the same questions as were in the study material so
if you repeat the study material enough
times to score 85% or better you will have no trouble with the quizzes.
The computer will not let you take a quiz a second time. Be ready the
first time.
Q.
I would like to know if it is alright to take the test on the 1st 3
chapters whenever we would like and move on to the next chapters or do you have
to wait for each week and take those test then. This is kinda familiar stuff
since I took nursing for a year. Can you finish as quickly or as slowly you
would like? Do we need to wait on anyone before we start?
A. You can take any test any time you like.
You do not need to wait for anyone or anything.
The important thing is your score.
Q. I am not sure if we were to email you our grades or not,
but I have just completed my first quiz in medical billing and made a 93. When
we click submit, does our grades automatically come to you or do we need to
email our grades to you?
A. Your grade automatically goes into a record that both you and I have access
to. You can see your grade by
clicking on "Tools", then “Check grade, then follow the instructions
on the screen. You do not need to
email your grade to me.
Q. I would like to know how to see the wrong answers that I
got on the test and what the correct answer should be.
A. Log on to Blackboard. Click on
"Tools" on the left hand side of the "Announcement" page.
Then click on "Check Grade" Then click on the grade (example 78).
Click on 78. You will then see all the questions on your test and how you
answered them. You will not be able to see the correct answers at this time.
Q. How can I see the questions I got wrong and what the correct answer is?
A. You only have one chance to see this. After you finish a test and click on
“Submit”, all your test questions appear along with your answers and the
correct answers. You will not be
able to see the correct answers at a later time.
This is your only chance to see them.
Q.
I am unable to get into week one test. The
message was Error -Access denied
A. I get this error sometimes also. If
too many people are accessing the computer at the same time, you will get this
error message. You just have to try
again at a later time.
Q.
I'm having a little trouble understanding how to look up these codes correctly.
I find them in the book, but when I key the codes in I'm a number off or
something. Can you please give me some pointers on how to use the book correctly
and more efficiently?"
A.
Coding is not an exact science. It
is not like math where 2 + 2 = 4. There
is some judgment involved and your judgment may not equal someone else's
judgment.
Keep
in mind this is an entry-level course and is not designed to make you a
professional coder. To become a
certified coder, you need to work in the field for two years before you can take
the exam. Working in the coding
field for two years will give you a ton more experience that you are getting
here. Do some reverse engineering. When
you get a wrong answer, try to figure out why someone else got the answer they
did.
Q. My father is an Ob-Gyn and wants me to take over billing
and after searching the web I came across your site. A lot of the other
courses take forever and offer more than what I am really looking for. I
wanted to know if once the course was completed would I be certified to do
medical billing?
A. No. You will receive a certificate from the college.
However, this is not certification.
There is a professional organization that does certify Medical billers.
You can get more information from this web site.
http://www.billers.com/
There is certification for Medical Coding. You can take a national
test for this after working in the field for at least 2 years. Knowing
coding is critical for successful billing. These
courses are billed as entry-level training. You should plan to work in an
ongoing billing environment after this course to be qualified to do billing on
your own.
You can get more information on certification from this web site.
http://www.aapcnatl.org/
There also is certification for Medical Transcriptionists.
You can get more information from this web site.
http://www.aamt.org/
Q.
On question 25 I put in the correct answer but it marked it wrong.
Can
you take a look at it please?
A. You used upper case (all capitals) in your answer.
Don't do this. Use regular lower case for your answers.
The test is case sensitive. Also, I noticed you used all upper case in
your email message. Don't do this
either. All capitals in email
is regarded as
shouting
at the reader. Are you shouting at
me?
Q. I am taking the Medical Billing course. I have tried several times to
backup my files as it suggests without any luck. Every time I go into this
section I have to reload and lose what I done on the prior night. I have tried
everything I know and keep coming up with "unable to find the file"
What do I need to do to keep from repeating myself and putting 4 or 5 hours in
one night to complete this and not go out of it until I take the test?
Thank you for your help.
A. The Medisoft program (which I am assuming you are referring to although you
don't say so) is given to you as an ongoing medical practice. Patients are
already entered as well as other transactions. When you enter a new
transaction it gets saved on your hard drive along with the transactions already
there. When you are finished working with the program and exit there is a
popup menu which asks about backing up the program. This refers to making
a copy of the entire program on another storage medium, such as a zip disk or a
computer tape backup.
This should be done with an ongoing business in case the
regular computer gets damaged, stolen, burned up, corrupted, or otherwise is not
able to work again. However, it is not something you need to concern
yourself with. You can get rid of this popup menu as follows: Go to
"File" then "Program Options" and look for the check mark in
a box next to "Remind to backup on Program Exit". Uncheck this
box. Then click on “Save”. Thereafter,
you should not see this backup reminder.
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