I think the pay is about the same for coders as MTs..(sm)

I think the pay is about the same for coders as MTs..(sm) [2008-05-07]
I see jobs advertised for coders a lot at 2 local hospitals around where I live. There are other hospitals in outlying smaller towns that have jobs occasionally. I haven It may be hard to break into coding,but even at age 55, I want to try. III have to earn regular money and not just when work happens to be in the system. I still think I will continue to look into switching to coding.

Pay scale for certified coders [2008-05-01]
Anybody have any info on the pay scale for coders in South MS? I have been an MT for 13 years and need a change. Thanks.

Question for billers and coders..(sm) [2008-04-28]
I know next to nothing about billing and coding. First of all, which is better to pursue, billing or coding, or both? Is one better than the other? ls there any waybilling and coding will go the way of MTing and be outsourced, or is it starting to already? Sorry, but like I said, I know practically nothing about it and after 18 years I am ready to get out of MTing. IMT companies who have plentyof work where I can actually start making good money again.I am seriously thinking of switching to billing or coding. Any input into this will be much appreciated. TIA.

pay for certified coders [2007-12-17]
Just out of curiosity, what is the normal rate per hour for certified coders with 12 years coding experience? Thanks

biller & coders [2007-03-23]
Career Step has Coding and Billing education available.

AHIMA [2008-10-07]
AHIMA is the Association for Health Information Management. They are the credentialing body for CCAs and CCSs as well as RHIT and RHIA. CCA is certified coding associate, entry level credential, and CCS is certified coding specialist. The CPC exams and credentials are from an organization AAPC which I am not sure but I think is American Assoc of Professional Coders. AHIMA does actually offer an on-line coding program, but that is not actually the focus of the organization. I don't know what is more prevalent in your area, but in my area generally hospitals are looking for AHIMA credentials. That may not be true in your area. If you look at the review books for both CCS and CPC you will find the CPC is more CPT coding and CCS is more ICD coding. They do both, however, cover both ICD and CPT. Advance for HIM is a publication that is available on line and I believe for free as is Just Coding News, both of which might provide some useful info for you. There are others, but the names escape me right now. Boot camp is 4-day intensive but really not the best investment if you have no coding knowledge at all.

your percentage is a little bit off [2008-10-07]
Actually about 50% fail the test, not 70%. and that is of the total people who take it, not just those who have taken college-based coding programs. I do not believe there is any such breakdown. The simple office coding you talk about isn't actually coding if you are copying the codes the doctor wrote on the chargemaster and doesn't really require any book as anybody can copy codes! It is the billing aspects that would require the specialized knowledge in that setting. And yes, it is difficult to learn inpatient coding on your own but a motivated person can do it if they set their mind to it. I have a good friend who is a CCS who is completely self-taught. But not everyone wants to be an inpatient coder. Our hospital has ED coders, outpatient coders, and day surgery coders in addition to inpatient coders.

Starting out in Coding or billing [2008-10-06]
Hi, I've been an MT for about 8 years but would like to learn medical billing and coding procedures. I plan on teaching myself as much as possible (and asking people that I know who are professional coders questions) and then taking the 4 day boot camp & take the CPC-A (apprentice) exam. What would you ladies suggest I start with? A CPC study guide? I am about 90% sure I can obtain a job in my hospital once I actually have a certification. Thank you so much in advance! By the way, I already have med term., a&p I and II w/ labs, and have an extensive knowledge about anatomy. The thing I need brushing up on are meds/surgical instruments, etc... Thanks again for your help!!

I am in NO way confused.... [2008-10-02]
Iworked in medical records for a few years before working from home, so I know exactly how it runs and what the job duties are because I participated in many of them. I also worked with coders who had worked in the field for 10 years and stillhad to go through an accredited program before being eligible to sit for their exams. The program that I am taking is heavy in coding, so sorry dear, but I won Also, once I complete all studies that I plan to take I will be eligible for the RHIA exam. I

You can sit for the exam with NO course. [2008-10-01]
You seem to be confused about the exams and credentials. You are warning others to be careful of which school they pick because just because you finish a coding course doesn That's not correct. You can sit for any CODING certification offered by AHIMA or AAPC even if you DON'T finish a coding course. You don't even have to start! They only require a high school diploma. AHIMA doesn't even require experience. You do need to be careful of what school you pick because some of them don't produce employable coders. As for you, your course is a 2-year RHIT program. You DO need the course in order to sit for the RHIT exam. However, an RHIT program is not a degree in management. It is a technical degree. ThatT is for--technician. It will qualify you to be a worker bee in a medical records environment--the same job people off the street can get. You can put together patient records, shelve and retrieve them, make photocopies to release patient information, check reports for signatures, etc. A better job would be coding. It pays better and it's more interesting. It takes less time, too. You could do all the coding first, then get a job while you do the rest. The RHIA is the management degree. There are RHITs who work their way up into management in small facilities, but most of them end up filing records or coding. RHIAs run the show.

ICD-10 is not being taught now [2008-09-26]
The U.S. is still using ICD-9 and implementation of ICD-10 is constantly being pushed back and back (thank goodness!). You will need thorough knowledge of anatomy and physiology and also need to really know and understand disease processes. Of course, the ICD and CPT classes and reimbursement systems, for POA, DRG, APCs and chargemaster. ICD-10 will be much more in depth so the knowledge of A&P and disease process will be even more important. You will also need some pharmacology (need to know what drugs are used for what diseases/conditions) but also need to how those drugs work, their method of action. Biggest deficit we see in our new coders is understanding of disease processes and the pharmacology. Since one of the guidelines in coding is not to code symptoms that are integral to the disease, this is really important to understand. Also, in the coding classes you want to get to really know and understand the Official Coding Guidelines. We have schools in our area that actually don't teach them. I can't figure out how that works because you can't be a coder without knowing them!

Outlook for coding [2008-09-21]
The outlook for coding is very good. There is an increasing need for coders, due to the type of reimbursement system used in the United States and an ageing population which requires more medical care, among other things. There are already a huge number of coding positions going unfilled due to a shortage of coders. Within the next several years, the United States will likely be switching to a more complex coding system. It is expected that many older coders will choose to retire and less competent coders will seek other work rather than try to make the switch. It is thought that a huge number of jobs will open up just prior to the changeover to ICD-10. Large-scale outsourcing the jobs to India is unlikely. There has been an actual decrease in interest in this, with some of the federal sector healthcare entities banning offshoring entirely. It is expected that the private sector will follow. Unlike some other jobs, there is a high need for control of the coding and reimbursement process. Coding has a critical effect on reimbursement, with errors resulting in lost income and the potential for huge fines and criminal sanctions. Offshore workers cannot be held liable for this, which has served to squelch interest in offshoring. Recent developments in privacy and security requirements (HIPAA), with the threat of medical identity theft, are cooling interest in offshoring, as well. As an occupation, coding offers good potential for advancement. Even if it becomes possible to assign codes via software, the higher level jobs will still be necessary and available. Coders will move easily into other roles.

It does help the transition [2008-08-28]
It really does help in learning the new job. It might not have seemed so to you, but we see it often. The best coders we have are former MTs. They learn coding much faster because they have a familiarity with reports and procedures. Itteach them how to read op reports, for instance. They just know. They also have a command of language that is better than most, so they read faster and more accurately. This might not have been apparent to you. You might not be aware of how much more difficult learning coding would be than it was. Obviously, some MTs might not do well in coding, but there are skills and knowledge that transfer.

You need training! [2008-08-27]
No, you need training. Coding isn't really any more difficult, but it is a different set of skills. MTs make great coders, though! Familiarity with reports and their contents, gives them a biiiig head start.

Things you can to to improve your prospects. [2008-08-26]
There aren't too many work-at-home jobs for new coders. You might need to bite the bullet and agree to work on-site for a short while. Start now to prepare yourself to take and pass a CPC, CCS, or CCS-P certification exam when you graduate, because that is the key to getting hired. In your courses, do not aim for a passing grade, but for a perfect grade. Squeaking by is not enough--the deficit will accumulate. If your course uses only one coding textbook, get different textbooks and learn everything they teach, too. Work every problem in every textbook, as well as in Clinical Coding Workout, and Marsha Diamond's Medical Coding Practice and Review, and every other review book you can find. You might be able to get them on interlibrary loan. Find out the certification requirements NOW for both AAPC and AHIMA, so that you won't waste time barking up the wrong tree. Those exams require you to be able to CODE, so that is what you need to learn to do. You need to know the anatomy, pharmacology, lab, and med language cold, but you must be able to code. If you can demonstrate to an employer that you can do that, they may hire you and you can move home quickly.

That's a different story. [2008-08-23]
What you had, then, was a poor documentation issue rather than a coder problem. Billers have a long tradition of thinking the coders are terrible and also of thinking the job isn't as complicated as it actually is. It's a lot like having the receptionist think the billers' jobs are easy and that she could do it without training because all she sees is typing and she can do that. That's not saying YOU are seeing it that way, but just pointing out that the situation from the coders' side might not have been quite what you thought. Coders code only from what is in the documentation. You donled to do so, in which case it was still not ok. Hospitals are constantly being investigated and sanctioned for this. Just having a supervisor approve it is no guarantee that it's ok--a supervisor and some other corporate sorts from 30 miles south of me are in federal prison right now for doing the same thing. But, if you are able to know what should have been coded from seeing a bill, then you might be an expert already. In that case, try taking the CCS exam and see what happens. If you pass and can get a job, then you're ahead of the game. If you can't, then you'll know you need more education. I can say with some certainty that you will not get a job working from home coding inpatient records without on-site experience, even with a CCS. It's even less likely to occur with a CCA, and your chances of being hired at all for inpatient coding with a CCA aren't great. Keeping the job would present a difficulty, too, considering the productivity requirements employers have. In truth, your chances of getting a job doing remote billing are better. It would certainly be less trouble.

Actually, [2008-08-22]
Well, in the interest of brevity, i left out the part, where i went to the coders and talked to them, and they went to the doctors and got the correct documentation, it was all done legally and with my supervisor's and the Medical records supervisor's permission. I worked for a very large hospital, and no fraud was committed.

biling vs coding [2008-08-20]
I have seen on this forum in addition to multiple other the difficulty which new coders are having gaining entry-level employment. Is this also true in medical billing or is billing easier to get a foot in the door with training but no experience? What is the difference in pay for billers vs coders?

Maybe, maybe not. [2008-08-20]
[quote]My question is, if i can pass the test, do you think I will be able to get a job with my experience?[/quote] [quote] I worked with Medicare, so the codes had to be correct always, and we had terrible coders that always put in codes that wouldn't pay...[/quote] It is entirely possible for someone to study on their own and pass the certification exam. The problem you may have is related to that second quote, in which you say the coders you worked with were terrible because they put in codes that didn't pay. Your experience seems to have been in changing the codes to ones that would pay. When you changed the codes to ones that would pay, you may have committed fraud, or at least were guilty of abuse. It is a federal criminal act (fraud) to knowingly do that and submit the claim to Medicare. If you don't realize it's wrong, it's only abuse. The penalties for either are severe. What you might not have realized was that those terrible coders were probably correct. They may have been coding correctly. Those codes cannot be changed. The physician may need to review his documentation practices, perhaps, but the codes cannot be changed. The office may need to issue ABNs for services which are not covered, but the codes cannot be changed. Coming along behind a professinal coder and changing his/her code assignments is not recommended. The problem you'll have with the exam will be that you have incorrect knowledge and expectations regarding coding. I can tell this because you thought all those coders codes were wrong. That means that *your* thinking is not correct. If you do decide to apply for a coding job, I recommend you never, ever mention that your experience involved changing coders' codes.

Testing CCA./CCS w/out degree [2008-08-19]
I worked in healthcare for 10 years before staying home with my kids. I did mostly billing, but a lot of coding. I worked with Medicare, so the codes had to be correct always, and we had terrible coders that always put in codes that wouldn't pay...so I had a lot of experience. I am nowhere near an expert, but I have been home with my kids for 3 years, and I am thinking of taking the test, studying of course, but I dont want to spend $$$$ and a lot of it, and wait 2 years to get through a degree. I dont want to go back to work in a hospital again to get more experience... My question is, if i can pass the test, do you think I will be able to get a job with my experience?

This is not true [2008-08-02]
Your advisor gave you bad information. First of all, the RHIT credential is not specifically for coding. It's for health information technology in general. You can and should sit for the RHIT credential immediately after you graduate. Passing that exam does not depend on experience in coding. You should be able to pass it with just what you learned in school. It is an ENTRY LEVEL exam. In fact, the longer you wait, the worse your score will be because you'll forget what you learned. The AHIMA coding exams, i.e., the CCS, CCS-P, are mastery level exams. AHIMA recommends that you have 2 years of experience before taking them, but it's only a recommendation. Their certification communicates only that you know the material. Students from some coding programs are able to pass them without experience. The American Association of Professional Coders, however, REQUIRES two years of experience before they will grant the full certification. You can TAKE the exam at any time before that, but you'll get a temporary certification which indicates that you do not have the experience. Their certification communicates to employers and clients that you not only know the material, but that you have significant experience, as well. If you are considering a career change, get the information you need directly from the source. Don't pass up an excellent career opportunity based on some nonsense spouted by someone at a school who has no more clue than a rabbit about what you intend to study. Don't take advice given by people, either. Find out the truth for yourself. Both certifying organizations' websites explain exactly what you need to do. www.ahima.org and www.aapc.com

Grass greener? [2008-07-24]
Hey everyone, I'm currently working at home as an MT (both me and my wife do this so that when we start our future family we can raise our own kids instead of having daycare do the same). Anyway. I've been thinking about adding coding to my skills, are there any coders who were MTs or visa versa. Is coding any better as far as how companies treat you, benefits etc? I dont want to spend money on school, invest the time, only to find out that coding is no good either. I appreciate your input.

CAUSE OF DEATH CODE [2008-06-30]
Hello:Could one of the coders please help me with a cause of death code? It is coded as Y349. We think it may have something to do with inhalation...but we are not sure inhalation of what. This is for the death of an old friend and any assistance you can provide deciphering this code would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Samantha

rhit [2008-06-21]
It just seems to make sense for a Transcriptionist to venture into HIM, but the problem is there are so many peolple I am hearing who are having a terrible getting an entry-level position in the field. Most people can ill afford to waste several years out of their life in education and come out without a job or one that pays the same as working as a bank teller, which requires no advanced education. I realize in most fields one must pay their dues and make lower pay in entry level positions but what I am hearing is pretty low pay if you can even get the foot on the door and find an entrylevel job. Those coders making really good money seem to have many years of experience and are not entry level.I suppose if one has a good second income you might be able to wait it outuntil someone gave you ashot and makeverly little while paying dues. Just asI supecta fewlucky peole fall in to good paying entry level positions. There are always exceptions but what a gamble considering what most are saying. Outsourcing/Offshoring is another definite concern. Look what it has done to transcription. Ten years ago I easly could get a good hourly wage in a hospital with benefits. Now not one hospital in my area has onsite transcription. I for one will run like the wind from any job/career that pays production pay. To me it If I bust hump I can make more than the hourly wages I was once offered right now, but afer years of thatit is an exhausting lifestyle for the sole breadwinner in a famiy working full time that way. Also my goodness what career do you know that pays people this way?. It.You have to wonder who started the trend AND why on Earth transcriptionists accepted it. Understood the possbility of more money but you are essentially dooming yourself to sweat shopt like menatlity and value of quantity over quality when the field decided to go this way. My concerns with coding going the same path and I can see already there is some outsourcing and offshorting there already.

You are correct [2008-06-21]
that RHIT training and the credential allows one to do a lot more than coding. Usually the RHIT or RHIA are preferred for management level positions. You would get training in every aspect of an HIM office, computer systems, ROM, legal problems, transcription, teaching, etc. The HIPAA laws created new positions that RHITs/RHIAs were sought to fill. But I dont think it includes much more than the basics in cancer registry...that is a different program. I got my RHIT in 1989 and my RHIA in 1992. I was a director of HIM in two small, rural hospitals and learned I dont like management. I had always done a lot of coding and a little transcription and grew to much prefer transcription. However my credential allowed me to start at a higher than entry level salary. Coding has too much interference from Medicare and other insurance companies for my taste. Medicare can drive you nuts! I have not coded in nearly a year now, so I might be way out of touch with it, but I have not heard of an off-shoring threat. In my area the only outsourcing there usually is is for backlogs. I have also done my internships and then coded three years at a huge big-city hospital. That hospital now has the coders working from home, but they still dont outsource. Another field to get into with HIM is DRG validation. That might be more big city, but still something an RHIT student would learn. Also, in the huge hospitals, there is a separate filing dept and usually a credentialed person manages that. Since I like filing, I always thought that would be interesting. I guess what I am trying to say is the RHIT or RHIA credential does open more windows than coding alone, and if you think you would like to ever get into managment one or both of these credentials is most likely mandatory. I would be glad to talk further with you.

MT and coder pay [2008-06-18]
That's interesting about the MT and coder pay. During my performance evaluation, my boss and I were talking about what I was going to school for, how undecided I was, and I told her that I was considering coding as a minor. She (an MSN) told me that if I did coding, I would be in the same place that I am now and that MT and coders are at the same pay level.

rhit [2008-05-16]
It seems a lot of people have a hard time breaking into coding. Does having a RHIT and then possibly going on to RHIA make you more marketable? I am 40 and don I have considered clincal work (PTA or RN) but as a single Mom with a disabled child these types of programs would be a real hardship on my family (we have a mortgage and going to school full-time for 2years isn An RHIT and then RHIA proram seems feasible and a good transition for an experienced MT but really wonder if there are jobs available. I am in econmically crunched Michigan as well. Please would love some responses.

NOISE!!! [2008-05-15]
I work at a hospital in the Health Information Management office. There is me, about 6 other transcriptionists, 3 coders and 5 clerks. It gets VERY loud. I know it gets frusturating, but you Also, if you could invest in (or get your company to buy) a pair of Bose headphones, you will be amazed at what a difference it makes. It cuts out probably 2/3 of the noise. Good LUCK!!!

For those wanting to kow about Coding [2008-05-10]
TO answer the burning question upfront, Ihascharts showing averages for coders based on city, state, etc... but II am in northern IL and the average arond here isaround $16/hr starting, and once you have at least 2yrs exp. you can expect a nice increase in that number as well as offers to do coding from home. I have been working in a multi-specialty clinic for a year now as a receptionist, were among other duties, I also code. I let it be know whenI began there that I was in school for coding and did not plan to stay forever unless they could incorporate me into exclusively a coding position (within resonable time.) Happily, I am now transitioning to that very position as soon as a replacement is found for me at thefront desk. I have always told othersa good way to get into coding is to find at least a part-time jobin a clinic or medical records dept somewhere, while in coding classes; let your future intentions be known, ask if you can help with any coding along the way (in some clinics it is the receptionists doing all the coding because of shortness of coders). Secondly, if you go to Ahima.org you can get a national list of approved coding programs according to type of certificate/degree level, online vs on-site,etc... If anyone has more questions feel free to email me as I don't come here too often.

Re: post from Maria [2008-05-10]
I see both part-time (and prn) and full-time jobs for coders; and good that you coding career courses - be aware! Good Luck