Medical Coding and/or Transcription?

[wdwgal]

Does anyone here do medical coding/transcription at either a hospital, medical office or at home? I am currently going to school for medical coding and transcription. I was wondering if anyone here does this type of work? There is so much to learn and I am not sure that I am capable of learning it all!

To those that do this type of work, do you only deal with one type of insurance or do you deal with all types? What are the liabilities of the job? Do you enjoy what you do? How did you find a job? What is the job market like? I was working in another field of medicine and wanted to go back to school for something less hands-on and wear and tear on my body.

Any information would be helpful!

TIA
wdwgal

 

[maroo]

I am a coder - CPC - (Certified Professional Coder).

I actually found the job first...I was a receptionist in a medical office and was moved up to the Insurance Department. Then they asked me to take the CPC exam for their liability purposes (it looks good to the Feds if you have a CPC on staff).

I left that job eventually and now have a job that LOVE, LOVE, LOVE at a cancer clinic.

I do all of the chemotherapy treatment coding and billing for all insurance types.

I don't have to have liability insurance for this job, but I do carry it to cover the consulting work that I do on the side.

Liabilities in general depend on what type of work you are doing... Navigating the ever changing world of healthcare is tricky. If you are a Compliance Officer or in Management of a large organization, then you may be theoretically liable for what organization does...But the responsibility ultimately falls on the provider.

However, if you own your own billing company - then you could be held liable for any errors in billing - but you would have insurance for that.

There are lots of places to look for a job. If you are willing to move, then you can check with the national organizations - they advertise jobs all the time.

If you want to stay local - that depends on your area. It is a lot easier to find a job if you have a job. So you may need to take a job in a doctor's office doing something besides coding and then move up to coding - this works best if you take a job in a large office.

I love the field. It is ALWAYS changing and there are always challenges to the job. I also love helping the patients fight with the insurance company.


ETA: I would stay away from transcription. There are a lot of automated ways to transcribe now and the experienced transcriptionists are keeping the jobs that are left...I would not try to enter that field now. With all of the electronic medical records being sold now...they have a lot of programs where the provider just clicks buttons and it "transcribes" for them...so that field is becoming more obsolete.

They will always need coders, though.

 

[Daisybelle]

I agree about going with Coding. Transcription is going by the wayside in many large facillities, but Coding departments continue to grow. Where I work we have a staff of about 13 coders and the pay is pretty great once you are certified. The need for transcibers dwindles as more pieces of it become automated. Coding is more time consuming to learn but a better payoff in the end. That's from my experience anyway.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I took this in school, I was all done with my courses and got A's in them only to find out I hated coding! I had a job lined up and everything...I had done my 30 hours of internship etc. for 6 months I had a migraine from it! I ended up in the hospital with them trying to break my migraine! It was that bad! sorry...I just think it is soooo boring! I guess after running around and cutting hair all my life it was just to ...blah! but now I have my degree in chemistry, so I am much better off!
also, there is no jobs in my area for this field, some of my friends went back to sales! I wanted something that pays alot!! lol and this just was not it!

 

[sunnyday123]

bumping this up...does anyone do this from home?

 

[Claudia1]

I have my certificate and my CCA certification but have been unable to find a job. We live in a very small town without may opportunities but I would really prefer to work at home.

However, getting experience has been impossible.

I have a very strong medical background, primarily as a registered Med Tech (bachelor's degree-medical laboratory 20+ years ago) and had hoped that would open a door for me. Nope. I do not want to go back into the lab and do the weekends/nights/holidays again.

Looking for advice, too.

 

[happygirl]

That what I'm going to school for.