A.  Yes, any of the schools approved by the AHDI organization would be good schools from which to get your education and if you mean alliedschools.com, they are on the approved list.  Out of AHDI's short list, I have narrowed it down to 3 that I know the most about and that offer a spectrum of less $$ to more $$ and less time to more time.  Many potential students are more concerned with money than time, some more concerned with time than money. 

When I looked on the alliedschools.com site I was unable to find out what the course costs so it is hard to compare them to other schools.  Also, I was not sure if they provide you with the reference materials that they list on their course outline or if you have to buy those yourself.  If you have to buy them yourself, figure in that extra amount when comparing costs to other schools.  Looks like the only way you can find that information out is to send for their information.  So I would recommend them for their course content (pretty standard content for an AHDI approved school) but I can't say how they stack up for cost. 

Career Step is probably the least expensive school on the ADHI list, and besides payment plans they also offer a limited number of scholarships each month you can apply for, and those usually equate to about a 25% reduction in tuition.  They don't include a lot of reference books, but they do include some good ones.  And one thing people have found valuable is a very active online student forum where you can stay connected with others taking the course, and not just connected with your teachers. I couldn't tell if Allied had a student forum or not.  They only talk about being in contact with the teachers by phone, fax and e-mail.  Some people say that Career Step is a "light weight" in the list of correspondence schools, but they are AHDI approved, which means their course material must measure up, and I know they have a high rate of employment after graduation. 

Andrews School is at the middle level for expense, but they do include all the good reference books in the tuition cost.  They do have a payment plan.  They have an active student forum.  They help with job placements, but I don't think there is much help needed.  They have such a good name in the industry that you would have no trouble getting a job with successful graduation from this program.

MTEC is at the high end for cost, but their course is very thorough.  They also have tuition assistance (through Federal funding, etc) and an active student forum.  They have a high rate of job placement, again because of their good reputation in the industry.  I don't know how much they actually help you find a job, but just like Andrews, I don't think you'd have any trouble getting a job after successful graduation.

Allied says they have job placement assistance for an additional fee.  It doesn't say what that fee is.  That probably is another item you can only find out by requesting additional information.  I would find out how much that "additional cost" is for job assistance so you can compare "apples to apples" with the other schools.  The information they list in the FAQs under the question "do you provide job assistance?" is this: 

Yes. We will provide you with the skills to successfully enter the job market. Our Career Center teaches you how to create an effective resume, write a strong cover letter, interview effectively, and more. Receive a professionally written resume and cover letter, job leads, and personal introductions to top employers. Note: Allied's career assistance programs are available for an additional cost.

That being said, many people are still willing to continue on in the career of transcription, or get into the career of transcription for the one factor that has not changed...you can do the job at home. 

Billing/coding may in the long run pay better than transcription in my estimation.  BUT...there are very few coding jobs being done at home.  Most of them require you to be on-site in a hospital or clinic.  I have known of a few long-time employees in hospitals (note the key word long-time) who have been offered a set up to work at home.  But entry level coders would probably not be offered an at-home position. 

Entry-level pay for coding/billing would probably be about the same as transcription.  In transcription you don't have many opportunities to "move up the ladder."  You could move up in a company to being a QA (quality assurance) person or maybe a supervisor or trainer, but that's about it. 

In the coding world, you would probably be paid an hourly wage in a hospital or large clinic setting.  You could move up to supervisory positions, and you most likely would be offered merit raises and/or cost-of-living raises.  The longer you are their employee, the more you could make just by "being there."  Transcriptionists usually don't get raises because the MT companies don't like to raise the rates to their clients for fear of losing them to someone else.

I would agree with you that transcription is more interesting than coding, but you need to decide what is most important to you...working at home in a job that is more interesting but the pay is pretty fixed (only way you earn more is to work more/produce more lines) ...or working out of your home with a more "boring" job (but the benefit camaradarie of fellow employees and making new friends) with potential for salary increases over time. 

As far as Career Step, yes, it is my understanding that each course is separate.  If you wanted to take both transcription and coding you would pay double.  I have never inquired directly to them about that, and I think they would probably recommend not trying to do both courses at the same time.  Maybe some have done it and lived to tell about it :o) and maybe if you tried it, you could work out a deal to pay less than full price for each course, but I don't know that for sure.

Career Step, as do most transcription correspondence schools, has various payment plans.  Some of them are no-interest plans over a course of a few months, some are plans with interest that usually allow you to stretch your payments out longer.  The payment plans make the course pretty affordable.  I think they may work with some of the state unemployment/reemployment funding programs or even some of the federal grants just like any other college, but I'm not sure about that and one of their advisors and/or the material you get from them should be able to answer those questions.