Medical coder and billing

[paulanpooh]

Hi! Was wondering if anybody is a medical coder? My husband is currently unemployed and has a hard time finding employment with a half way decent wage say around 15.00 dollars an hour. He was laid off from his job as a warehouse worker which he did for 12 years. So really he has no skills to get a decent job. He is planning to take the medical coding and billing class at our local community college this fall and was wondering how do you like this field and do you have any pointers to succeed? Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

[disneylove69]

Not sure where you are located but I have a lot of friends who are trying to do the same thing. It is hard to find a job where we are at in this field since everyone is going to school for it. I have heard it pays decent if you can get it.

 

[paulanpooh]

We are on the east coast about 45 mins outside Philly. There are jobs posted but most of them want 1 - 3 years experience. That's what I'm worried about are you going to have a hard time finding a job after you graduate because of the years experience you need. It like 3000 dollars for the course and I guess it's a chance you take.

 

[SCDisneyMom]

I've been a coder in a hospital for 7 years. The hospital I work for doesn't require experience (I was offered the job during my clinical rotations), but they do require at least an associate's degree and prefer that applicants have a RHIT or CCS certification. A physician's office might not be as strict with their requirements, but the pay won't be as great, either. I really enjoy coding for the hospital & the pay is good. I also get to work from home. The downside is that coding can be awfully boring at times! Also, things are a bit crazy in this field right now due to the impending switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10.

 

[clh2]

Does your state unemployment department have any funding available for retraining?? If so-can that fund help to pay for the class?

 

[paulanpooh]

Does your state unemployment department have any funding available for retraining?? If so-can that fund help to pay for the class?

We are checking that out and waiting to hear from the department of labor. Fingers crossed that they have the funding for him. That would help us out greatly!

 

[tvguy]

My neighbor does medical code checking for an insurance company. She works on commission. I have no idea what the commission is, but she found $6 million in over billings last year and her husband hints that she is making 6 figures for part time work.

 

[mousehockey37]

OP... check PM

 

[seasheller]

My daughter lost her job over five years ago and decided to go to school for this. Even though she passed the course with straight A marks in everything and earned an associates degree, she has never worked in the field. She does work in an insurance office in a completely unrelated position.

 

[angwill]

We are on the east coast about 45 mins outside Philly. There are jobs posted but most of them want 1 - 3 years experience. That's what I'm worried about are you going to have a hard time finding a job after you graduate because of the years experience you need. It like 3000 dollars for the course and I guess it's a chance you take.

I took medical transcription years ago because when I talked to the college they talked it up about the great pay, work at home, and ease of getting a job. Even said they would give us a list of everyone within an hour that hire. I paid my thousands to the school, was a straight A student, and afterward sent resumes to all the addresses on that list. I continued sending them for 4 years and only got one interview out of it all at a hospital I worked at as a CNA before going back to college. I lost out to someone with over 2 years experience. Never could find anyone willing to help me get the experience needed to get a job. I also found out none of the 20 plus women I took the class and others from previous classes that none of us ever did get a break and find a medical transcription job. I know it is different in different areas but if there is a course offered and the adds say they wants experience there is a good chance it will be a waste of money. I do hope he has a better experience than I did.

It might be a good idea for him to call on those ads he sees and talk to someone there about what he is thinking of doing and if they ever hire straight out of college or maybe know anyone in the area that does.

 

[Nevergrow'nup]

The problem with medical transcription or coding is everyone is changing to electronic health records. Coding is done automatically. Coders need to have experience with insurance billing and keep up to date with all the changes. They are hiring fewer people as the computers do most of the work for you.

 

[tinktinktink]

So happy to see this thread I have been considering going to school for this just as a backup for the field that I'm already in. I have 7 years experience as an operations specialist doing adjustments for a major medical insurance company. I was thinking it might be a good field to look into, but by the sound of things it seems like people are struggling to find jobs.

 

[paulanpooh]

I took medical transcription years ago because when I talked to the college they talked it up about the great pay, work at home, and ease of getting a job. Even said they would give us a list of everyone within an hour that hire. I paid my thousands to the school, was a straight A student, and afterward sent resumes to all the addresses on that list. I continued sending them for 4 years and only got one interview out of it all at a hospital I worked at as a CNA before going back to college. I lost out to someone with over 2 years experience. Never could find anyone willing to help me get the experience needed to get a job. I also found out none of the 20 plus women I took the class and others from previous classes that none of us ever did get a break and find a medical transcription job. I know it is different in different areas but if there is a course offered and the adds say they wants experience there is a good chance it will be a waste of money. I do hope he has a better experience than I did.

It might be a good idea for him to call on those ads he sees and talk to someone there about what he is thinking of doing and if they ever hire straight out of college or maybe know anyone in the area that does.

That is a good idea about getting in touch with companies that hire with experience. I will tell him to do that! I know he has to go to school this week to find out more info and he says there is a job board there with jobs. I'll tell him to check it out and shoot a few emails to the companies asking about experience.