Medical Coding And Billing careers...Anyone??

[delaa]

i appreciate the info here. I encourage everyone to take these on-the-job posts with a grain of salt. If you are doing anything for 10 plus years it might lose its luster and shine and not feel rewarding. For someone not making a lot of money, a medical billing and coding job would be an UPGRADE. And its a skill-set you can take anywhere in the United States. There's a certain security in having such a skill. The on-the-job experience may have gotten old but if you are treating this type of job as a STEPPING STONE to something else..another goal down the road, it may be exactly what YOU want and need. But yes...stability and security can start to feel like a prison over time if you no longer find the job rewarding.


I just don't want people to get bogged down in someone else's life history when trying to pursue something they want. There's plenty of helpful information in this post and thread but I felt the need to post this message for myself and others as a reminder to read between the lines. And final decision about a goal or change in careers is your own. Weigh those cons against the pros of pursuing this line of work AND weigh those cons against the cons of your current job and situation. That is all.

Originally Posted by cottercutie

stay out of billing, it's a complete dead end and even with my decade plus of experience, true work from opportunities are few and far between and pay crap. Rarely do companies offer flex hours and unless you want to work MORE hours, room for advancement is null. There was a time when it was trending towards working at home but with HIPAA and all the electronic billing stuff, most companies prefer to do it either onsite or they hire a third party agency that also will do it onsite. And don't bother with schooling for it either, unless you're getting a coding certification out of it.. (And make sure it is a CODING certificate NOT BILLING. A cerified "Medical Biller" is a complete joke, a certified CODER is what is considered valuable). Most of what is involved in the billing and collection of medical bills is learned on the job due to the unique nature of each discipline. Hospital billing is very, very different than a pediatrician, and a pediatrician's billing is way different than a surgeon's.. It's high stress, low reward. And depending on what type of office you are in will dictate your responsiblities. In a large facility, like a hospital, you may end up just sending claims all day. In a small office you may have to also do coding and collections.

Transcription was being outsourced but has slowly been creeping back to the US like the previous poster mentioned.. the outsourced accuracy and productivity is seriously lagging. Coding can also be done at home IF and WHEN you get enough experience. You'll have to put in a few years in a couple of environments doing coding in order for most places to hire you. But again, no guarantees you'll EVER be able to work from home in coding.