A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

For former MTs who switched to coding: - sm

Posted: Apr 10, 2015

Which do you prefer? I actually like MT. I find it interesting & satisfying to create a perfect report. The pay going downhill is what I don't like... I'm wondering if I would like coding & would love to hear from former MTs your thoughts on the similarities/differences and pros/cons.

I do not miss MT one bit - sm - MT2coder

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been ready to move on for years. The pay has gotten pathetic and I have more respect for myself than that.

Coding is totally different but there are MT skills I use to code that come in handy. I have no idea how people with no medical background become coders. It must be twice as hard. I also know my way around a chart and knowing the doctors and their specialties comes in handy.

It's not for everyone though so maybe you can shadow someone first to see if it is right for you. Try to shadow different areas as some are easier than others. My friend does ER and that is light years easier than inpatient.

Good luck.

I don't miss it one bit, either. - MT2Coder2

[ In Reply To ..]
I can't think of one darn thing I miss about MT. I don't miss the aches and pains of sitting frozen in one position and typing for 8 or 12 hours straight; having headphones crammed in my ears delivering random high-decibel blasts interspersed with revolting pig-like sound effects, toilet noises, and verbal abuse; having 50 accounts with 50 different sets of 100 pages of specifications, half of which are stupid and the other half irrelevant; and the frustration of NJA and MTSO manipulation and craziness. Not to mention the miserable pay and total lack of respect.

Taking pleasure in producing "the perfect report" is great, but don't you think it would be even more worthwhile to produce a perfectly coded case that actually results in something tangibly beneficial to the facility, the patient, and humanity as a whole? As a coder, your work is the only way facilities get appropriate payment so they can continue providing healthcare. Your accurate work is important in making sure that patients pay only what they should. It is also important in healthcare improvement and disease research, much of which depends on diagnosis and procedure codes. Hospital readmission and complication statistics, along with a lot of other things, come from coded data. There are even disease outbreak early warning detection systems that function on ... amazingly enough ... coded data from hospitals and EDs.

Coding is similar in that it uses the same information source, the medical record. Instead of typing it, you read it. It is interesting in the same way. You can take your current knowledge and expand it. Instead of just recording the report, you extract meaningful information from it and others, correlating what you see in labs, imaging, operative reports, and other components to tell the story of what happened in codes. This is especially true of inpatient.

It is highly responsible, independent work requiring an orientation to detail, perfection, and continuous self-learning and formal education.

You can't beat the pay and the opportunity for advancement and/or moving into related fields as technology and everything else changes. Coding is a basic skill that is a requirement for many areas of health information.

don't miss it at all either - anotherMT2coderr

[ In Reply To ..]
Agree with everything you wrote, but I would like to add some great perks. I am valued as a team player. I get regular raises (instead of continual lowering of pay and new pay grids). I get paid for reviewing new policies or reading my e-mail. If the network goes down, I am still paid (they usually find something else for us to do, attend an on line seminar, etc). I get paid holidays OFF!! When we work OT because we are behind, they actually bring around carts of goodies for us to thank us!! Imagine a totally different atmosphere!!

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