2016 Fall Medical Coding Specialist Data Summary
Data and Evidence Analysis Summary – 2016 Medical Coding Specialist Conducted by Doreen Olson, Adjunct Faculty and Program Development Coordinator, 7-27-2016 WTCS Comparative Data: https://facultyresources.westerntc.edu/program-planning-resources/health-human-services/medicalcoding-specialist/ Course Completion Western’s C or Better for the Medical Coding program ranged from 79.2% (2013) to 82.4% (2014). Western has two reporting years with no data reported in 2015. Moraine Park Technical College consistently outranked Western during those years and has an average completion rate of 84.4% (2012-2015). Western’s average is 80.5% for the two reporting years. Lakeshore and Northcentral Technical Colleges have an average of 81.6% and 76.8% for the reporting years of 2013-2015. Fall to Spring Retention Western’s fall to spring retention increased from 68.2% in 2013 to 72.7% in 2014. Western has the lowest fall to spring retention average of 69.7% for the two years. Lakeshore Technical College has the highest average of 88.1% for three years, 2013-2015. Moraine Park Technical College has an 81.6% average for five reporting years (2012-2015). Second Year Graduation Western’s second year graduation rates are 3.6% for 2014 and 0% for 2015 with an average of 2.5%. Discussion of these percentage rates may include the involvement of students graduating with a HIT associate degree. In comparison to the other three colleges, Western’s second-year graduation rate (average) of 2.5% is starkly less than Lakeshore Technical College’s 41.8% and Northcentral Technical College’s 36.4%. Moraine Park Technical College’s average for four years of data is 19.7%. Labor Market Analysis October 2015 https://facultyresources.westerntc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-OCT-Medical-CodingSpecialist-Program-Trends.pdf In an analysis of the Western District and occupations associated with the field of Medical Coding Specialist, the following points are noted: From 2016-2020, these occupations are expected to grow 6.6%. This is considered strong growth. District trends are anticipated to be slightly higher than the state and national trends which are 6.3%. 1|Page Jobs are projected to have a significantly higher concentration in La Crosse County (330 jobs) by 2020. Monroe County follows with a projection of 79 jobs. Job projection drops to 47 in Vernon County, 45 in Trempealeau County and 35 in Jackson County. This program includes occupations with an aging population demonstrating 25.1% in the 45-54 age range. 24.6% of those employed are 55 years of age or older. A small segment of workers is the 19-24 year old population with 7.1%. The high school population of students may benefit from greater exposure to this occupation. An analysis of the district’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) shows that there are three educational programs tagged to deliver graduates into the fields of Medical Coding Specialist. There is no sign that the market is being over-saturated by graduates as there were 17 completers for 30 openings in 2014. The majority of jobs in 2015 were housed within general medical and surgical hospitals (24.2%) and offices of physicians (20.0%). Earnings for graduates of this program (median) range from $12.64 per hour to $17.95 per hour with the median hourly wage of $15.05. This is below the national median wage of $16.74. Student Satisfaction Trends The Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory was conducted in the fall of 2015 in which this program did not have a separate evaluation. The last student satisfaction evaluation was completed in 2008. Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Trends No recent data was available. Last student learning outcome data was recorded in 2012. Graduate Follow-Up Trends Year Types of jobs obtained Companies hiring Western graduates 2012-13 (No Data) Year Types of jobs obtained Companies hiring Western graduates 2013-14 (No Data) Year Types of jobs obtained Companies hiring Western graduates 2014-15 Health Information Management Professional Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI 2|Page Career Pathways Assessment No data was available for this program. This program does pathway into the Health Information Technology program. 3|Page
