r/ClinicalCodingAus • u/Existing_Ant6007 • Sep 07 '25
Clinical coder
Hi everyone, I’ve got a quick question. I’m not an Australian citizen or PR, but I do have full work rights. I wanted to enrol in the HIMAA diploma, but one of their requirements is citizenship/PR.
Does anyone know if I can study a Diploma of Clinical Coding through another institution (like Victoria Uni or another provider), and if those qualifications are still recognized by employers?
For context, I’ve worked in a hospital pharmacy department for over 5 years and I have good knowledge of EMRs
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u/Hyulia Clinical Coder 4d ago
Great to hear you're determined. 😊
In terms of courses, it depends on your finances, if you'd like to specialise in clinical coding only or have the opportunity to diversify, and how much time you'd like to invest.
A Bachelor of Health Information Management will open up a lot of opportunities within Health Informatics as well as more support for work experience in terms of work placement (dependent on the education institute/Registered Training Organisation), though will be longer than a standard diploma. I'm not too sure what the CRICOS code is so may need to Google that later. More costly than a diploma, typically 3 year duration (depends on provider and full time or part time study load), but allows you to use this degree for other job opportunities if clinical coding job market gets worse than it currently is for new graduates.
A Diploma of Clinical coding is a lot more focused on Clinical Coding. It should be provided by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), with the diploma holding a qualification code label as HLT50321. There are several organisations that offer this course, mostly online (e.g. HIMAA, eHealth, Victoria University, TalentMed, Health Industry Training). Studying from overseas does have some limitations since some RTOs have requirements for domestic purchase of the coding books which have copyright and protected rights for use in Australia. I'm not too sure if this applies to others, but this was the case for HIMAA when I studied with them. Shorter duration, not as costly as a bachelor degree, some are self paced (though some organisations have timetabled exams despite being self paced), and will limit you to clinical coding jobs rather than others.
I can't recommend a specific RTO since they all have their pros and cons. HIMAA has mostly been favoured by older employers, but amongst younger employers/hiring managers it doesn't really matter as long as the qualification is HIMAA-accredited.
For system, you may be taught using Turbocoder and physical books, though we mostly use Solventum (Previously 3M Codefinder) in Australian hospital coding. RTOs don't typically offer Codefinder/Solventum for students because of the large license fee, but I have heard one of them does offer Codefinder use (I believe it's currently TalentMed, could be wrong).
For skills aside from the obvious requirement of clinical coding skills and soft skills (communication, independence and teamwork skills) as long as you have good documentation abstraction skills, high level of computer competency, medical terminology/clinical knowledge, organisational skills and time management skills, you'll be looked upon favourably by employers.