by Johnna Grzywacz, CPC
Protect Yourself Against Scams
If you wish to market yourself, it is important to move your career path toward the areas where prospective employers are more likely to hire you. One of the ways to achieve this is to become an informed consumer of Workforce Investment Act job training programs. Following an action plan regardless if you are between positions or considering a career move will help you confidently dodge unscrupulous training programs and move you closer to your goals.
Some great training programs exist which consist of postsecondary proprietary career schools, certificate programs and college level coursework. However, oceans of ink on blogs, forums and articles indicate scam is the watchword. Do your homework up front to avoid taking a trip down shady lane.
Although this information will assist you in selecting a program either in the medical coding, billing or transcription field, the concepts may also apply to other industries you want to flourish in.
Get connected
– Attend local coding chapter meetings in your state. Information gained from attendees and speakers will help maximize your reach to programs, certifications, and career opportunities.
– Establish yourself with a seasoned mentor to help you assess training programs and compare them against employer requirements.
– Speak with HR Managers, HIM Directors and Coding Managers at hospitals and clinics. Ask what certifications they accept before you sign on and ask if they have agreements with training providers to accept externship students.
– Ask if they have hired and continue to hire graduates from the programs you are researching. Is the “certificate” awarded by a program an accepted means to gain a position into the level you are seeking?
– Approach non-governmental consumer advocacy groups or tax-payer groups in your community and visit rip-off internet sites to check for blacklisted programs. Many proprietary schools in have histories of fraud and abuse. They re-invent with a new name and strategy banking on the public’s short memory of past fraud.
– When checking for violations and/or complaints, state licensing agencies may not share this information. These agencies are paid to license and approve proprietary training programs, some having snuck thru the politically favored back door.
– Study the industry with its many components and future trends under the health information management and technology umbrella of which medical coding and transcription are a few segments. Understanding the interrelated issues of compliance, EHR, HIPAA and revenue cycle enhancement, to name a few, allows you to focus in on which programs yield staying power not short term gratification.
By hook or by crook
– Anticipate heavy handed sales tactics. Enrollees determine salaries and profit.
– Base your decision not on the requisite props and niceties but on how well they are connected to industry requirements and professional organizations.
– Web site deception – For example, when the National Health Career Association (NHA) was called to verify information shown on a website, the (then) National Director stated: “that program has sat one person for the exam and that person did not pass.” The website’s caption under a group shot stated “all these students passed with all A’s.”
– Meet with students who have attended the program you are interested in. Don’t rely on written statements from prior students presented to you. Reading a student success story that unbeknownst to you was actually written by the school and presented as a marketing tool to lure enrollees is fraud. This being the case in NH where a formal complaint was filed. With no resolution, the training program remains licensed and approved by NH Postsecondary Commission.
– The promoter of the program may also be serving up shills – people paid to endorse the program.
– Pay attention to your “right to rescind.” A letter written and submitted to the training provider prior to the end of the third business day will get you out of the contract. This applies if you are utilizing your ITA (grant voucher) or signing a promissory note.
– As a smart shopper you may want to sit in on a few classes before deciding.
Red Flags
– Pulling at your heart strings, tugging at your wallet or medicating you with high hopes till their check arrives is the unsavory side of a training scheme. In hindsight, the folks stepped up to declare “they seemed so nice and sincere but the training hardly prepared us for what was required.” Placing distance between yourself and the sales pitch while still researching is vital.
– The art of the con is built on starting the transaction slowly, then suddenly applying high pressure tactics with the urgency to sign up NOW. Tactics include “class begins next week so you must decide fast.” People who lack the time to think will make the mistake of being lured in.
– Your greatest asset will be detachment. Take the time you need to think it thru before whisking your pen across the dotted line. Many students reported they felt “rushed” thru the entire process.
– “Our coding course only offers you the concepts and the cost of the program is $4,000.00.” Intro coding concepts can be offered at a local enrichment center for under $200.00. Or confer with a coding tutor. A program with a robust curriculum is the appeal to a potential employer.
– If you are told “The training is free” realize whether you are utilizing a grant (voucher) or signing a promissory note it’s all coming out of your pocket.
– Ask the training provider for proof of current approval of coursework and vendor approval with AAPC or AHIMA. Is the instructor PMCC certified and have a long history of working as a medical coder? When a program tells you “we are affiliated/approved” simply because their instructor(s) are members of the above organizations, don’t buy it.
– A recent shopper received a response from a training program hoping to be chosen: “we are not affiliated with AAPC now but plan to be in a few months.” Base your decision on what is current.
– If a program is accredited. Ask for the name of the accrediting body, call and check “by which standards, procedures and policies the program is accredited.”
– Speaking to an advisory board member regarding career opportunities is beneficial. If there is no advisory board or accreditation, keep shopping.
Got grades?
– Obtain a sample of tests given by the program. Confer with a mentor and compare to employer standards. Have your mentor review marketing brochures and other reference material from a program you are considering.
– Secure the date of the certification exam prior to enrolling into a program that prepares you for the exam, if possible. Taking the exam while the coursework is fresh in your mind will benefit you.
– In New Hampshire, there are WIA approved and NH Postsecondary Commission licensed and approved programs that have no advisory board, no accreditation, no diplomas, no credits, no CEU’s, no oversight and no direct organization affiliations with AAPC or AHIMA or AMBA. Medical coders are not hired from these types of programs even though the program is titled Medical Billing and Coding Specialist as prior students have voiced.
Con-artistry has thrived in government sponsored training programs for over six decades since their inception. With multiple revamps the loop-holes that allow fraud and abuse still prevail in this multi-billion dollar industry funded by taxpayers.
Each new revamp promises improved oversight. Some states prove better than others in this task. Under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) each state constructs local workforce boards or similar sounding state and federal agencies. According to the Federal Register, their responsibility is the oversight of training providers and Career One Stop activities. One of these activities is to provide a list and website of licensed and approved “eligible” training providers to any individual seeking training for gainful employment.
One of the recent amendments to the reauthorized Workforce Investment Act (WIA) downgrades “customer satisfaction” from a required reporting measure to the State and Federal Government, to just an “option”. Translation: Not happy with the training or conditions? Have complaints? No resolution.
It is common to by pass job training programs in lieu of on the job training thru an employer. It is not a mandatory feature of receiving unemployment assistance that you attend these programs. Many have had great success bypassing training and landing great jobs.
In summary, locate a mentor, speak to individuals who have attended the programs you are considering and stay in touch with current requirements of employers. The best training selection will add clout to your resume and increase your chances of being front and center with a fist full of job offers.
According to Stephen Covey in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.”
Chart your course by knowing what you need and getting what you want to bring your career goals into fruition.