# icd10 by 12/31/15 or lose your credentials!!



## driley6@hvc.rr.com (Feb 14, 2015)

I just found out that you have to have  your proficiency test and have passed by 12/31/15 or you will lose your credentials!! 

I have to say that I think its unfair that you (AAPC) require this. Everyone has worked hard to get their certifications and personally, and I am sure alot of others feel the same way, that icd 10 should have any effect on credentials. 

My job doesnt require either..certification or icd10 proficiency. I understand that most jobs do require it. But I still dont think its right that you take away our credenticials for icd10. If I had realized prior to taking the course for cpc that all these fees are required each year to stay current and to be a memeber which you must be in order to stay current, I would have NEVER taken the course!! All it is is a money maker for AAPC. I dont have the money to keep up with all this. Making $20. per hr. isn't to shabby either but add 125. membership fee each year, plus if I want to take a course for CEU's the cost is anywhere upward of 200. 

Yes I take the free business monthly and other free CEU where ever I can but I would like to take other courses but just cant do it.

I am also a licenced Hairdresser and I am required to pay a fee every 4 years of 40. with no other continuing education required. So to me all your fees and requirements are over the top! But now I am forced to do it in order to keep my CPC certification that I worked so hard to obtain...so unfair!

Diane


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## mitchellde (Feb 14, 2015)

driley6@hvc.rr.com said:


> I just found out that you have to have  your proficiency test and have passed by 12/31/15 or you will lose your credentials!!
> 
> I have to say that I think its unfair that you (AAPC) require this. Everyone has worked hard to get their certifications and personally, and I am sure alot of others feel the same way, that icd 10 should have any effect on credentials.
> 
> ...


A medical certification is very different from a hairdresser license.  Every type of medical license requires CEUs to maintain the certification.  The AAPC is the same as any other professional certification board, it takes money to maintain the staff that oversees all the certified members.  There are many aspects of a professional certification that need to be looked at daily to keep the integrity of the certification intact.  At some point it will be required that a coder must have a professional certification to be able to perform the function of coder or biller.  When that time does come the AAPC will have your back to stand behind your credentials as a professional certified coder.  The ICD-10 proficiency is just one more verification step.  It will be the code set you will use so why should you not show that you are competent with it.  It is unfortunate that you just found this out, but the AAPC has not made this a secret at all. It has been posted on this website for over a year.  
I stand behind the AAPC on this and I agree that we must prove ICD-10 proficiency to keep our certification.  We have a great organization behind us!


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## driley6@hvc.rr.com (Feb 16, 2015)

I know full well that the two are very different, I was just making an example.  
My point is that I can't afford to take the ICD-10 classes nor can I afford to pay for the webinars, live events, etc. to get CEU's. So I am stuck with doing just the free business monthly. I am sure I could learn a lot more then they have to offer. 

Face it, it is all about the money! That includes finding higher paying jobs, the reason I decided to get certified, to better my life by financial gain. But in my area most people are making less than I am, I did NOT receive a raise after receiving my credentials....times are rough right now blah blah. Maybe your company pays for your courses etc. but mine doesn't.  

I can't imagine that there will be a law that requires employer to hire only certified coders, it's a choice.


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## mitchellde (Feb 16, 2015)

driley6@hvc.rr.com said:


> I know full well that the two are very different, I was just making an example.
> My point is that I can't afford to take the ICD-10 classes nor can I afford to pay for the webinars, live events, etc. to get CEU's. So I am stuck with doing just the free business monthly. I am sure I could learn a lot more then they have to offer.
> 
> Face it, it is all about the money! That includes finding higher paying jobs, the reason I decided to get certified, to better my life by financial gain. But in my area most people are making less than I am, I did NOT receive a raise after receiving my credentials....times are rough right now blah blah. Maybe your company pays for your courses etc. but mine doesn't.
> ...



It is NOT all about the money!  There is a ton of regulation in the healthcare industry.  There needs to be organizations like the AAPC that oversees certification to set standards and assure compliance.  maintaining CEUs is just one way that compliance with new rules is assured.  You are expected to build the cost of CEUs into your budget just like any other expected expense.  Also yes they can require al coders be certified, they only need to insert it into HIPAA and there we are.  If you are dienchanted then simply find something else you like to do.  Dont blame the AAPC please!


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## driley6@hvc.rr.com (Feb 17, 2015)

I guess you told me! I feel so much better now. But I still can't afford to take the course for ICD-10.


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## mitchellde (Feb 17, 2015)

driley6@hvc.rr.com said:


> I guess you told me! I feel so much better now. But I still can't afford to take the course for ICD-10.



With all due respect you do not need to take the course.  If you can read the coding guidelines and you are competent in the use of the code book and looking at all the conventions and such then just take the test.  It is $60 to take the test.  I did not take the class, I just took the test, and passed it with room to spare!  No one said you were required to take the class, only that you must be able to pass the proficiency test.


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## driley6@hvc.rr.com (Feb 18, 2015)

Thank you


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## ssmith251 (Feb 20, 2015)

If you are truly worried about the use of ICD-10-CM/PCS there is plenty of free education on CMS.gov to include videos and National Calls that you can listen to.  

Shannon


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## ssmith251 (Feb 20, 2015)

Guess I should clearify that the information on CMS.gov will not provided you with free training, but free basic information that is helpful and they have the guidelines posted for viewing.

Shannon


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## ABridgman (Feb 20, 2015)

mitchellde said:


> A medical certification is very different from a hairdresser license.  Every type of medical license requires CEUs to maintain the certification.  The AAPC is the same as any other professional certification board, it takes money to maintain the staff that oversees all the certified members.  There are many aspects of a professional certification that need to be looked at daily to keep the integrity of the certification intact.  At some point it will be required that a coder must have a professional certification to be able to perform the function of coder or biller.  When that time does come the AAPC will have your back to stand behind your credentials as a professional certified coder.  The ICD-10 proficiency is just one more verification step.  It will be the code set you will use so why should you not show that you are competent with it.  It is unfortunate that you just found this out, but the AAPC has not made this a secret at all. It has been posted on this website for over a year.
> I stand behind the AAPC on this and I agree that we must prove ICD-10 proficiency to keep our certification.  We have a great organization behind us!



I must agree, however...that the expenses are a bit over the top!
I'd like to get some more education and certification....but what I make as a coder does not allow for me to afford any of this stuff!

There should be a way that some people can get these services based on what their actual income is.  And there most definitely should be a better ROI on the deal.

As it is now...you spend thousands of dollars, get certified, and barely make so much as a penny more than you did before.  That does not seem right.

There ought to be a way to either have a slifding scale, or at least financing on some of these expensive courses.  I just do not HAVE $1400 or more at one time...in order to sign up for any of these classes.

And I learn a lot more in real life coding than in a classroom anyway.  What about some credential for real life experience?  Because there is a whole lot that happens out here in the real world that they can NEVER teach you about in coding school.


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## ABridgman (Feb 20, 2015)

driley6@hvc.rr.com said:


> I can't imagine that there will be a law that requires employer to hire only certified coders, it's a choice.



I should HOPE not.  I am not certified.  I own my own billing and coding company. My client is fully well aware I am not certified.  He also swears I am the best biller/coder he has ever had.

Unfortunately, he DOES NOT pay for my membership in AAPC, nor does he pay for any of the classes, he does not even pay for the billing software I use to file his claims...my company (aka ME) pays that.

By the time I get done with all this, I barely make enough to get by adnd live on, I certainly don't have anything spare to afford classes that cost thousands of dollars!  There should at LEAST be a way that AAPC would finance this over time, or allow for pricing based on a sliding scale.


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