By By Steve Gillespie/The Meridian Star
May 24, 2001
Rush Foundation Hospital officials showed their appreciation this week the first group of employees to finish Medical Billing Clerk classes at Meridian Community College.
MCC developed the classes to benefit Rush employees and provide new employees with entry-level skills needed to work in a medical billing department.
Fifteen employees have completed the first session of the two-year program. They were honored Monday with a luncheon and presented with certificates of completion.
Employees who took the classes did so on their own initiative and on their own time. Three-hour classes were held one night a week.
Currently there are 12 more employees enrolled who are halfway done with classes and five employees have come forward expressing an interest in the third session, scheduled to begin in August according to Eunice Wood, director of business services for Rush.
More than 100 people work in Rush's billing area. Wood said office managers for the hospital and medical clinics associated with Rush worked out the curriculum that would best benefit their staff.
Classes that have been developed for the program include Medical Office Terminology I and Medical Vocabulary. Two employees have finished the course, Joann Meadows and Vivian Smith.
The courses cover medical language relating to body systems, diseases, procedures, clinical specialties and abbreviations. It includes definitions and emphasizes correct spelling and pronunciation.
Smith, who has worked three years in the business services department, said the vocabulary class helps her save time.
Terminology, Meadows said, was the most helpful class to her "because we're dealing with these terms every day." Meadows also works in the business services department.
Other courses developed are: Medical Office Concepts, which covers medical office skills, issues and problem solving; Medical Information Management, which deals with health insurance filing and medical office software; and Fundamentals of Medical Insurance Coding, which includes workshops taught by Rush Foundation Hospital personnel.
Steve Gillespie is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call him at 693-1551, ext. 3233, or e-mail him at sgillespie@themeridianstar.com.