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

Thinking of Coding. Help - MT

Posted: Mar 29, 2010

I have been a MT for over 4 years. I am thinking of switching to coding. How hard is the switch? Can you find work at home jobs? What are the best online schools for it?

Thank you

switching to coding - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been an MT for many years but have also decided to try to get into coding and am taking the course through The Andrews School. From what I have seen, coding it rather hard to break into, much like transcription. The old catch-22 that you can't get a job without experience and can't get experience without a job. I understand that many places will consider you without experience if you have a credential so I am hoping to be able to pass the CCS when I finish my program. AHIMA also has a program that looks okay but beware as there are a lot of so called coding programs that I don't think are much good. Good luck.

Good Questions! - Linda Andrews

[ In Reply To ..]
You asked, "How hard is the switch? Can you find work at home jobs? What are the best online schools for it?"

The switch isn't terrible, but like anything worth doing, you want to do it well. A solid coding course is probably going to take a couple of years, or possibly a little less in a more self-paced program.

You don't want an "Introduction To Coding" kind of course unless you just want to work in a doctor's office in more of a billing capacity with just a tiny bit of coding.

Most coders work in hospitals and/or clinics. Some are beginning to work from home, but it isn't like transcription where almost everyone works at home. Whether you would find a work-at-home job in coding depends on where you live and what is available when you are finished with training.

What are the best online schools for coding? Obviously I think The Andrews School is the best, but I'm supposed to think that. The serious answer to that question is recommend that you e-mail 5-10 online schools, including mine, and ask for more information. As you read through what everyone sends to you, you'll start getting a handle on what is important and what is just 'fluff' or time-fillers. You want to find a course that provides you with the most experience actually coding, not writing essays on this or that or learning things unrelated to coding at the expense of your coding education.

As you read through 'promotional material' or e-mail sent from the various schools, you'll be able to sort things out.

Then write back to the schools with more specific questions and compare the answers.

Finally, call and talk to your final selections. Eventually you'll find a school that is the right one for you.

Andrews - Coding

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi Linda,

How many students each year that enroll in your school drop out before they reach the end of the course? Just curious. A common theme in people I have talked to who have enrolled in courses in coding (on line and college) start with a big group but by the end it dwindles to a few.

This is true of ALL courses, - not just coding.

[ In Reply To ..]
The dropout rate in most schools, for-profit and community-type colleges is very high no matter what the course. It's just that the drop rate is "invisible" at schools where students can't really see each other.

A lot of college health information management programs, like those teaching coding, would have even higher drop rates were it not for the practice of making students take general courses like English, math, anatomy & physiology, and med terms before they can even apply for the HIM programs. That gets rid of a huge number of students without making the HIM department look bad.

If you take classes at schools like that, you often use course management software which lets you compare your test grades with other students. By the end of some courses, like coding, you can see that a bunch of students vanish after the first test, a bunch more after the second, and so on until sometimes only one or two remain at the end.

Coding schools - Coderx

[ In Reply To ..]
If you go to the AHIMA and AAPC websites you will find a list of schools also that are online that are approved by their associations. It is a great place to start for looking into quality education. They have a list of all schools that are approved by them, the very associations you will eventually (hopefully) get your credentials from. The websites are a wealth of information. Be sure to do some VERY good research before choosing an on-line school. Be sure to read all the posts below as this was discussed heavily below and some very good points were made. Good luck with your venture. :-) Just an objective point of view!!

What's in an approval? - Hidden agendas

[ In Reply To ..]
You don't always know what an approval means. In some cases, it might mean only schools that are members of an association can get approved. Sometimes, schools aren't approved because they would have to reduce the amount of subject matter coverage they provide or the way they teach it, in order that the organization's own course doesn't look bad by comparison.

And sometimes, approval just means the teacher took a very expensive course, pays an exorbitant licensing fee every year, and agrees to use only the organization's materials. The approval is just paid advertising for a plug-n-play system.

Not all graduates of approved schools pass the credentialing exams. What actually happens is that most grads don't test at all. Some take the same course two or three times to learn enough to brave the exam. When organizations recommend their approved grads have 2 years of experience, then up it to 3, and still have so many failures that they are willing to cook up a dumbed down credential as a solution, you have to wonder what exactly is getting approved.

It's probably better to evaluate a course on its own merits.

What all prospective codings students should read - Coderx

[ In Reply To ..]
What is in an approval? You should go to this link and read this if you do not know: http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_043741.pdf

I would suggest anyone who is thinking about going into the profession of coding go to this website and read "what is in an approval." There is a lot of important information in the AHIMA and CAHIM websites. A great place to get some information to educate yourself before you spend all kinds of money on an education.

It would seem "rather accusing" to try to portray that these organizations, the very organizations that will grant our credentials, would try to keep out a program because it would "compete" or "make "their" program look bad. Quite a statement, to say the least. Not one I would be prepared to make unless I had some solid proof to back it up. Do you??

While it would be true that not all graduates of approved programs pass their credential exams, it would also be true that not all pass from "other" on-line programs as well as those from actual on-campus classes. I guess that is true about any course that is offered in any field.

I think it goes without saying that in our world nowdays of all of these internet "so-called" schools/programs, there should have to be some type of organization or governing body to keep people from getting ripped off/scammed. Who better to do this than the very organization that is granting these credentials we are working towards. They have given an in-depth ouline on their website as to what should be in an approved program to protect people from getting ripped off by programs claiming to be something they are not. I guess it would seem odd to me if a program is claiming to be of such great quality that they would not get the approval of these organizations, the very organizations they themselves are going to send their students to, to get their credentials. It would also seem odd to me that potential students would ignore these organizations recommendations and spend their money on something else that is basically not proven. To each their own.

Now, you also accuse them of cooking up a "dumbed down" credential as a solution. Again, this is quite a statement. Obvsiously, these organizations realize what an undertaking coding is and how hard it is to pass their exams. They do suggest you try to get some experience. I think that is an "honest" way of going about it. Would you rather they portrayed it like some of these on-line schools do and tell you that you should be able to pass right out of school when they themselves know that the pass rate is not that high. They prove the percentages on their website as CJ had listed below. Isn't that just being honest?? Basically telling you to save your money until you are truly ready. This is no different than the CMT test in transcription. They also suggest people have experience before they take that. Of course, I am sure you feel that have "Dumbed down" those credentials now too. That is quite an offending statement to all of those people out there who have achieved those credentials. I do not consider any credential a "dumbed down" credential or a waste of time. I feel any credentials anyone has worked for are worthy, and shame on you for downplaying one's hard work.

In education, even our public schools/private schools, for our children, they all have a governing body who has to approve any course/curriculum that they want to implement into their educational system. It is designed to keep out the bad programs so that the wrong information is not being taught.

It is a no-brainer to me that one would seek out an approved program to educate themselves to protect themselves from getting ripped off and potentially shortchanging their future career.

FWIW.

thank you - cj

[ In Reply To ..]
well reasoned, logical and intelligent response.

Why would posts be deleted? - Strange

[ In Reply To ..]
Seems very strange to me that posts disappear off of this board for no reason at all!! Gee, one would wonder who really is running this discussion/advertising board??

The poster probably deleted them - Figures

[ In Reply To ..]
Linda, herself, probably deleted them as she was pressed to answer questions and quit evading them, which she is so good at doing, so she got deperate and deleted them. Anyone can delete their own post if you want too. Just go into Options and use the editing tool. Seems as soon as things get to be too much for her, she sends her backup crew out to handle her affairs, Redpen! Her posts are deleted from above to be replaced by Redpen's responses as well, and also just like she did below. What's up with that?

deleted post? - plse

[ In Reply To ..]
I was the one questioning her. Can she delete my posts? I was wondering where it had gone. I am glad, though, that I am not the only one who thinks she is evading answering the questions and should not be using this discussion forum to try to sell her school! Let's see if i get deleted again!

No oe else can delete your posts specifically ... SM - Moderator

[ In Reply To ..]
However, if a other poster entered a code to edit or delete their own post, all replies to that post will be deleted.

Moderator

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