Author: Alexandra Patricia Young

Publisher: W B Saunders Company

Published: 2003-08-01

Total Pages: 16

ISBN-13: 9780721602745

An outstanding, ready-to-use course ideal for distance learning course option or as a supplement to a traditional classroom experience, this interactive program serves as a "virtual externship" that guides users through the material and directs them to read from the text at appropriate intervals. An "office orientation" introduces the user to a cast of virtual characters (doctors, medical assistants) and to the general functions of the front office. From that point, the user is assigned to different areas of the front office for experience with checking in patients, filing insurance claims, checking out patients, etc. Users gain "on-the-job" experience performing the competencies they are expected to master for successful completion of the program, including telephone techniques, professional behavior, billing, and more, as each situation arises. All online content is compatible with standard formats for web delivery and is powered by EVOLVE, Elsevier's Blackboard course management system. Blackboard course management platform simplifies grading assessments and calculating overall grades with automatic scoring and gradebook. A variety of communication tools give students access to real-time chat, calendar, email, bulletin board, and more. Content simulates a virtual externship experience, including a supervisor/mentor, office personnel, and patient cases - the closest thing to on-the-job learning. Virtual "mentoring" personalizes learning by addressing the user as if the externship supervisor speaking directly to the user. Ethical, legal, and communication-related considerations are raised where appropriate throughout the content in a visually recognizable fashion, demonstrating how these considerations arise in many contexts within administrative medical assisting and why they are important. Self-comprehension questions and learning activities interspersed throughout allow students to check their comprehension and learn from feedback. Competency-based application activities are designed to give the student an opportunity to apply a skill they've just learned. A built-in checklist encompasses all the procedures that address the AAMA and AMT administrative competencies so students can monitor their completion of all the required competencies. Fun, printable documents (for example, a "card" from the staff congratulating the student) offer encouragement at significant milestones throughout the course. Pop-up boxes provide convenient access to further explanations, forms, or oversize figures, enabling students to "dig deeper" into the content or see the paperwork actually used on the job. Links to relevant web sites provide additional resources to enhance learning or stimulate discussion. Figures from the book appear in the online course to illustrate concepts and procedures, as well as tying the online component and the text material together. Quizzes and exams enable students demonstrate their mastery of the content by completing the assessment questions, automatically scored and graded for the instructor. Discussion board features pertinent topics already posted for use as class discussion or assignments. Extensive glossary of definitions, each term linked to where it appears in the online content, provides correct definitions of key terms.