Relentless in being told to go to school for Medical billing and I’ll get a job?

[tarragon]

Medical billing can be a difficult job. It's definitely a skilled job. I just retired a year ago from doing it for over 30 years. I saw many changes throughout those years. When I started, it wasn't so hard to learn, but now it's very specific because of Medicare mainly. Narrowing down correct diagnoses and picking the right procedural code you need to be accurate. If a provider or facility is audited and their billing wasn't done correctly, they can be fined for every error and that adds up!

I'm not suggesting you not to pursue this field, I'm just trying to make you aware of how difficult it can be and stressful!

Good luck.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Sammy75

I’ve done extensive research and it’s almost impossible to get a job without experience. I’m 49 and have no experience in the healthcare field. My mother keeps pushing I go to get a medical billing certification because her friends daughter (who is in his 20’s) did it and got a job right away in a hospital. The odds of that happening is rare. I told my mother that the market is saturated and I am not going to spend money on a certification I can’t use. She said I’m just making excuses and I will get a job (at my age with no experience. I feel she is wrong?

My cousin went back for a medical coding cert in her early 50. Has worked steadily at it 12 years now. Our state minimum wage i $15.69. She makes low 20s an hour.

[Disgustedman]

Originally Posted by Sammy75

I’ve done extensive research and it’s almost impossible to get a job without experience. I’m 49 and have no experience in the healthcare field. My mother keeps pushing I go to get a medical billing certification because her friends daughter (who is in his 20’s) did it and got a job right away in a hospital. The odds of that happening is rare. I told my mother that the market is saturated and I am not going to spend money on a certification I can’t use. She said I’m just making excuses and I will get a job (at my age with no experience. I feel she is wrong?

Well you're correct the market is saturated and unless you got a nice body and a nice smile you're not going to score well. I tried in 2010 talk about a waste of time.

Now if I was a young 20-year-old female was a pretty face and a nice body yes I would probably be able to score a job in a dentist or some kind of small medical facility but unless you have an inroads to hospitals or other large medical facilities you're not going to get through the first round.

Personally if I was you I would be looking around for a mold injection plant. That's where the work is now as far as I'm concerned and from what I've seen.

[MarianRavenwood]

The skill involved has dropped a lot since 2009 when DHHS implemented a rule that billing for every patient or practice covered by HIPAA had to use ICD-10 codes. That doesn't mean that the job requires no skill. But it's not as hard as it used to be when every insurance carrier had its own coding system. And as is typical, when a job is less challenging, it pays less.



It's definitely a field that seems to have gotten saturated. You don't see as many recruitment ads any more. Doesn't mean no one is getting hired. But you'll have competition.


The more important question is what do you want to do? Saturation or not, you won't succeed in a job you dislike.