Looking for Help with Getting Started in Coding

[RobS21]

Hello, I'm interested in getting into the medical coding field, and I'm applying for a training grant to pay for the classes and certification.  For the application, I have to ask a coder a few questions about the work, but I'm down to plan C for finding someone and I have to answer the questions by Thursday!  If anyone could take five minutes to help me out, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you
-Rob

[Michele]

I would but I'm not a certified coder.   

[kristin]

Same here, although I code all the time, as I am sort of grandfathered in for coding long before there were certified coders. Perhaps your questions are of a more general nature, that can be answered by non-certified coders, who have experience coding?

[RobS21]

To be honest, I'm getting desperate at this point, so I'll take any answers I can get at this point!

Job Title:
Description of Job Tasks:
Requirements for Performing Job (any necessary special license, certificate, registration, etc.):
Special Skill Prerequisites (speed, accuracy, abilities, education, knowledge of special machinery, instruments or tools needed, etc.):
Working Conditions:
-Hours per week?
-Starting wage per hour?
-1st, 2nd, or 3rd shift?
-Are weekends included?
-Are medical benefits included?
Chance of getting a job in this field, and any other notes:

If anybody answers these, I'm also supposed to get your name and employer, but given that I'm a stranger, feel free to make up a name and employer 

[kristin]

Okay, here goes:
Title: Practice Manager

Job description: Handle all billing/coding for practice, audit charts, maintain compliance with HIPAA, OSHA, and billing/coding regulations, manage A/R and patient statements/billing issues, credential/re-credential providers, maintain insurance contracts, educate and train staff/providers on all regulations/updates to billing, coding, and general compliance issues. You name it, I am in charge of it, as well as doing patient intake, insurance verification, general reception duties, assisting doctors in surgery, taking x-rays, etc, etc.

Requirements for performing job: I have a CNA license, so I can perform certain patient care procedures. Most people in my position also have a CPC, CMBS, CPPM, as well as auditing certification.

Special skill prerequisites: Knowledge of Windows, Excel, Word, Adobe, numerous EMR/PM systems, digital x-ray system, to name a few.

Working conditions:
Hours per week: 20-40 (I make my own schedule, but normally, it would be 40 hours a week)
Starting wage: Hard to say...I make over $25 an hour for what I do, with huge bonuses. Have no idea what going rate is for what I do at other practices around the country.
Shift: mostly first, moving into second on some days
Weekends: our office is open Saturdays, so yes, sometimes I work Saturdays if I feel like it.
Medical benefits: No. We are a small practice, and don't offer them. All employees are already insured through our spouses. That said, most larger practices/hospitals do have medical, dental, vision, 401K benefits, etc.

Chance of getting a job in this field, and any other notes:
This is the most important question in this survey. The fact is that there is an inundation/over-saturation of medical coders/billers, and many cannot find work. There are so many schools/programs out there, and so many students, and not enough work to go around. Add to that many schools/programs promote "work from home" and that is almost impossible to get, without experience. So I feel many prospective/current students are being sold a bill of goods by their school, and it really bothers me. I am a member of numerous billing/coding forums, and if I had a dollar for every person out there that started a program with all sorts of promises and expectations from that program, only to be still looking for a job 2-3 years later, I could retire.
Here is what matters:
1. Who you know. Do you have some sort of "in" with a currently employed coder/biller, or a provider who can help you get a job?
2. Location, location, location. If you live in Butte, Montana, versus someone in Chicago, Illinois, your options are limited for work.
3. Very few group practices/solo practices hire coders these days. Where the hiring is at, if you are in the right location, is with hospitals. Which is an entirely different type of coding, and requires a CIC, versus CPC.

Kristin Happel
Lake Zurich Foot Clinic

[RobS21]

Thank you so much, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help with this!

I also appreciate your honesty about finding work in coding.  The more I've looked into it, the more I've started to get that same impression, despite all the numbers about how much the field is supposed to grow in the next decade.  If I qualify for this grant for the training, I think I'm going to look into a RHIT certification so I'm not limited to coding.

[kristin]

It was my pleasure to help!

While I don't want to discourage you, I also want you to go into your education with realistic expectations, and it seems like you have done your research. 

Best of luck to you as you pursue your goals!