When I enrolled at USCI I specifically asked if they were a credited school that was recognized in the medical community. I was assured that when I complete my courses not only would I have a great career but I would be able to work from home or in an office type environment. I then after several days of thinking enrolled and took the Medical Claims and Billing course. I received my certificate on Nov 15 and it is April 15 and I am no closer to getting a job in this field then the man in the moon.
Why you might ask, Because they lied and mislead me. The certificate is not worth the paper it is written on. I have done all the things that they say to do, I have tried on several occasions to contact someone and get straight answers, I have emailed and received back on only one occasion the standard form letter they would send to everyone, ya know that one thats about a page long and does not answer one single question you asked. I not only have tried to contact a knowledgeable person since I have completed my so called course. But I had on occasion a question about a lesson or more questions about this so called work at home training, at one point I got a live person to talk to only to find out that I could not talk to an instructor and the reason was simple to her she said to me "your behind on your payment so you can't talk to the instructor until you bill was current". I was not late I have up graded the program and had not my the payment yet. Here is the kicker the Original course before the up grade was paid in full the day I enrolled. I had to pay to extra for an upgrade that should have been part of the course to begin with, and because I had not made a payment on the later part I was told I could not speak to an instructor. According to the school President Ann Rohr's letter I received I had 23 months to pay for my course. Up to that point I had paid all but 260.00 and they had the nerve to tell me I could not speak to an instructor or even a someone in student services basically I was left hanging and could not finish my lesson or take my test that week because of this. What happened on that of many issues is without a doubt the most irresponsible and unprofessional way of handling a students issue not to mention bad judgement on the part of the school.
There were other instances where I had called and left message for an instructor to contact me only I after 3 days had to either call again or email in order to correct the issue at hand. The staff or whatever they are that answer the phones in student services were rude and never had an answer for my questions ever! Having these people answering the phones representing this Institution is a disgrace to customer service as a whole not to mention embarrassing. As I progressed through this course I had even more questions regarding the possibility of not being able to get work with out being certified by the AAPC or AHIMA. I had asked several people from this Institution from the student services staff, the admissions staff to the graduate counselors to which the answer was unanimous " No I do not have to be certified to work in this field and they do not offer the exam at USCI." While I found that odd at best I had to go along with the overwhelming response to that question. I also was shocked at what they gave me as far as supplies or tools towards my "new career" I had to purchase the ICD-9 book and the CPT codes manual. The software they sent me crashed my new computer and it took me 6 months and numerous phone calls and emails to USCI and Med Look and finally Microsoft before I finally was able to use my computer again and by the way it was an additional cost of 695.66 out of my pocket before I could us my system again. Prior to using there software my system was fine no issues at all. I installed the med look software and it thrashed my system. I was promised a better version of the software as of today's date I have received nothing.
So lets see here up to that point it had cost me $2235.16 I had a week left of finals and then i received my Certificate. I did what they instructed us to do after completion of the course and that was to contact the graduate counselor, I did had to leave message of course and almost 3 weeks later I received a call from a so called graduate counselor. One would think after everything else that went on at least now the graduate counselor would point me in the right direction, No, I did not expect them to place me in a job at all I am capable of finding work myself. When I was taking the course I was expecting to learn the ins and outs of working from home like all of USCI's informational brochures indicate and assure you the consumer that at the end of the course you will be able to work full-time or part-time at home or in an office, you can be a remote coder work from home blah blah blah. To which none of that is true nor did I get any concrete info on how to go about working from home. But in the end none of this will happen and why not, why can't someone who passed this course with a 90% get a job in this field? Because what they don't tell you even when you point blank ask them is you do have to be certified now not have a piece of useless paper from them with the word "certificate" across the front (which by the way i could have printed off MS office myself) but you have to have been certified specifically the CPC through the AAPC or the CCS through the AHIMA. That is the certification that employers want you to have to work in this field period! I know this because I am presently working on getting my certification, where i am now is working on how to take said exams without going through a course that actually prepares you for these exams and costing me yet hundreds of dollars more for something I should already have and USCI been straight with me in the beginning when i asked them about certification. USCI is not even recognized by the medical community for these courses.
This is not the first time USCI has heard this from me I told them all of this in the after graduation survey they mail out. And by phone more than once, I still to this very day have not gotten that graduate counselor to give me any more of an answer to my question of " how do you go about working from home like i was promised" my guess is because being a remote coder is virtually nonexistent. OH let me correct myself there are remote coders that are legit but to have one of those jobs is not going to happen right out of the gate.in order for this to be a reality you must have to proper education, at least 5 years experience in coding, proper equipment for billing ie: computers and software most companies do not supply this for you. Some even have you pay for client lists your a self employed contractor you have to do this yourself and it can be very costly not to mention the legal aspects that go along with home coders. You must know the rules and proper ways to bill a claim the ins and outs of health insurances and lets not forget the GOD Mother of them all MEDICARE you have to you must know the ins and outs of Medicare because the last thing you would ever want is to incorrectly code bills and be accused of fraud it can cost you everything!
Being a coder is not something that is just a fly by night career it is to be taken seriously, it is a highly competitive field but a very rewarding field as well. I do have hospital experience from another state and worked with insurances and doctors for 18 yrs this why I had decided to further my career and become a coder, this is why I asked the questions of USCI that i did only to be mislead and lied to costing me hundreds of dollars that I would not have spent with them had I known, It is not like I didn't explain myself in the beginning with USCI I told them I was unemployed and wanted to work in this field due to my past experiences. They assured me that taking this course would give me the advantage I needed to obtain my goal. That is the worst lie I have ever been a victim of. I received nothing that i can use to obtain my goals of becoming a medical coder. Did you know that medical practices and facilities nationwide only recognize certifications from AAPC and AHIMA any other cerification will not be recognized by the medical community. And this is for those who really want a medical coding future " must have a CPC or CCS credential to get a job otherwise it is almost impossible to obtain employment in this field without them.
What i think USCI shoud do for me at the very least is give me back the money i spent for this useless piece of paper the call a degree so that i can obtain my goals and become employed again. I am still unemployed and presently seeking my "Real Degree and Credentials" with no help whatsoever from USCI. Personally I think that if the founder Pamela Weston and the President Ann Rohr have an ethical bone in there bodies they would be happy to refund me my monies so I can get what I sat out to get almost three years ago. I wonder how they would have felt had they been "Scammed they way I and countless other have been". USCI lets do the right thing here and have some respect and ethics refund my money it is just a drop in the bucket for you anyway it was all I had to end up with even less if that is possible. This is just wrong and I don't understand how you sleep at night. I am one disgusted consumer and deserve to be righted.
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