# financial assistance advice



## amneske (Apr 8, 2013)

I know this is may not be the right forum for this? But does anyone know of any place you can get financial assistance for certificate programs for medical coding? I already took and passed with honors an outpatient medical coding program through CareerStep (which was excellent) and have my CPC credential. But I wanted to take the next step and get my CCS credential. There is an online Inpatient coding Class offered through my community college, but since it is a certificate program and does not lead to a degree or give credit hours I can not find any financial assistance. My work will only reimburse for a degree program. I already checked at the school and they dont offer anything either? Since I already paid for the outpatient coding program I cant really afford the $1800 to pay for another certificate program. Any advice?

Thanks!


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## jbrashear (Aug 16, 2013)

*Financial assistance advice*

The most important thing for the CCS classes is to make sure the program you are wanting to take is CAHIIM accredited. If not, you can't even sit for the exam. Also, the rules with AHIMA have changed as of this year. If you have been certified through any other national certifying body (such as AAPC) for one year, they allow you to sit for the exam. Again, AHIMA just approved a new program to mentor HIM professionals into some certifications, such as the RHIT. You would have to research out any other credentials you may earn through a mentorship. So, it looks like to me that classes shouldn't be necessary and you would only have the cost of the exam. Hope this helps!


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## amneske (Aug 17, 2013)

*RHIT without classes?*

So are you saying you can be eligible to take the RHIT exam without classes by mentoring? I'm not seeing anything about that on the AHIMA we site? I knew that classes were not required for the CCS exam, but have a lot of interest in inpatient coding. I don't have any direct inpatient experience so I can't get an inpatient job to gain that experience. So I was hoping to take some classes to help me prepare for the exam.


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## holmesk821@gmail.com (Mar 6, 2020)

Good morning, can someone tell me how to open a affirm account


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