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laboratory tech vs coder/biller health info - change of career

Posted: Dec 31, 2009

I feel MT is dying a slow death. I want to be prepared. Lab technicians work in an independent setting and get to analyze, dissect, research (love it!) and there are many employment opportunities, but the math scares me. Medical billing/coding and health information data entry would be logical after MT'ing for 15 years, but i'm worried about the outsourcing and the prospect doesn't excite me as much as the lab tech. I'm afraid i'd be stuck in an office answering phones and dealing with disgruntled patients whose insurance didn't approve this or that. But then it doesn't frighten me...like all the biology, math and chemistry classes I would be up against at age 40. So...which to choose, I can't decide. I want to sign up for spring 2010 and can get certified in either one and then go on to get an Associates specific to each field. Any advice or ideas?

MT field dying a slow death - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, you are right . . . MT is dying but I think it is NOT dying a slow death but rather rolling downhill to a fast, painful death to be experienced by all who remain to the bitter end. I say that you should not be afraid of math and biology! Didn't you have to take pretty much all that stuff anyway to be an MT? I know that I did, but then I was educated as a medical assistant and had all of that stuff. I do not think that you should go into medical billing/coding because I believe that this WILL be outsourced and the pay degraded as in the MT field. I think that if you really love lab tech that much you should just do it! Don't let what scares you keep you away; just face it head on and decide this is what I am going to do and do it. You have more than 20 years of work ahead of you. Do you really think that MT'ing will even be around at its current level in 5 years? I know that I don't think so.

Agree, this is a no-brainer. Go for what you want. - MissIndigo

[ In Reply To ..]
Lucky you to have something to go into that excites you and can't be completely offshored. The math'll end up as routine as anything you do now, especially with computerized records. A good part of the time you'll end up plugging values into the spaces provided by computer programs anyway, which'll be backstopping you by checking figures against what it knows and the patient record.

Insider Information - MedTechsKid

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know if this will help you or not, but just in case I will share. My dad is a medical technologist. He has two degrees, 1 in chemistry and the other in math and then he went on to get his med technologist liscense. Currently he is a regional supervisor of a huge hospital network lab system, and he makes just enough to provide a VERY modest lifestyle. At the time I decided to go into MT, I talked to him at legnth about his own work. I know that over the years he has been very dissatisfied with pay, and he is a technologist which is higher pay and more room for advancement than technician.

I would encourage you to seriously research the difference in medical technologist versus technician. Research the salary and career advancement potential for each, as well as the required education.

Also, be aware that this is a heavily saturated field. When you see ads for med tech/technologist jobs, be aware that there might be hundreds looking at taht same position. Also, be aware that a lot of med techs are trained in the military (it is a very popular military MOS because it provides a civilian skill) so they already have experience that you won't have. Those are great questions to ask a school as you do your research.

If you have viewed the wages the government reports for med techs, I would also encourage you to view what the report for MTs. ;-) According to my Dad that has been in the lab for 40+ years, those 40K+ salaries are years down the road and many many years for med. technicians. As an MT, you're already aware of how advertised average pay is not always accurate of course.

I was advised to suggest to you to check with American Medical Technologist website (www.amt1.com) and also to contact a local hospital and ask to speak to their laboratory supervisor. Make a list of questions about job availability.

Another issue I would encourage you to research before making your decision is the lisence procedures for each state. Some states, Florida for example, require a state lisence. If you move a lot, this might be an issue for you.

Personally, I believe that above salary you have to be happy with your work, but if the field is saturated to the point it might be hard to get a job that is surely something to be aware of.

I am a working MT, but also working on a degree in HIM/coding. I wish you the best of luck with your future career change and in your studies!

Oh, the last thing I am suppose to pass on to you is that lab work is not the exciting research it sounds like. Think dropping blood in vials and pushing buttons over and over again all day long. Again, talk to a working med tech to get an idea of what the job truly entails. You might hear all about it and know it is perfect for you.

GOOD LUCK! HTH!

My POV - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been in the medical industry for almost 40 years, from nurses' aide, to RN, to MT.

From my point of view, the entire medical industry has been going downhill starting in the early 1970s, and isn't making an uphill turn any time soon. Maybe this downward trend didn't hit the MT portion of the medical industry until the last several years; but, from my POV, nursing sure isn't the same as it used to be back when I started. Not that greed didn't exist back then, but it seems that greed has totally taken over, not to mention deceptive practices by insurance companies and pharmaceuticals, in my opinion.

It is my opinion that not only are the workers victims of this downward trend, but the patients are the biggest victims of all. It seems to me that the entire medical industry is run on greed and deceit, thankfully with a few exceptions.

If you are going to change professions and go back to school, why not consider a different industry?

Personally, there are other activities in my life that I have enjoyed immensely, but never thought of them as a career, as I always thought(erroneously) that a "JOB" had to be something that was unpleasant, and had to be something that involved working for someone else.

Now, late in life, I realize that one of my hobbies (dressmaking) could have become a lifelong career, with some additional study, and that I could have enjoyed that career and made it what I wanted it to be long-term.

Of course, I am taking my own advice, despite my advanced age, while I remain an MT as a means to an end, not as an end in itself, hoping to totally retire from MT or be only part-time by 2011.

Someone wrote, "Do what you love and the money will follow", which is so true.

If you love being a laboratory technician, and if it offers a bright and secure future for you, go for it! Otherwise, please do not spend your time and energy on it, because life is short, and you will age and lose your energy before you know it. If you love something else, learn and perfect that skill while you are still young..

Youre right about the entire medical industry - going downhill. (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
Even for the doctors. As a patient, I saw my own healthcare at the same clinic I'd been going to for years, take a nosedive once HMOs started taking over everything. Eventually, all the experienced, long-time doctors quit (long before retirement age) because they didn't want to practice run-em-in, run-em-out "McMedicine". The ones who are left don't seem to care that they no longer think for themselves; they just do what the HMOs and Upper Management tell them to do - which is, "Get that patient in and out of your office just as fast as possible, and give as little treatment as possible".

Tonight, on the cusp of a new decade, and about to lose my livelihood, I wonder what is really going to be left to do for a living in this country if we keep selling ourselves to the lowest offshore bidder? And I'm afraid it will be only the cream-of-the-crop jobs (like movie director, CEO of large corporation, bank president, etc,) or else the peanut-paying menial jobs. There will be rich people and poor people in the US, but no Middle Class.

following heart - change of career

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for the in depth info on the lab tech. I had no idea it was saturated. If I were to follow my heart, it would be psychology/social work, but that is a four year degree and I will need to work full time while i'm in school. I need something fast while the MT business dies out. Within the year. The coding/HIM cert would probably be a good start while I work on an Associates in general studies. I know math would just be a drag on me. Too bad MT'ing can't last forever. I've watched my pay steadily decrease and the working conditions have brought my morale to an all time low in this industry. Thanks for the replies.

Reply - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
Let whatever you do now for a living be the means to achieve your ultimate goal.

I remember having the choice of continuing my education or working. I chose to work because I did not have the time or energy to do both, and obviously needed an income to pay my bills. But, if I had started part-time back then, I would have ultimately achieved my goal and would be in a different place now. If online courses had been available back then, I may have chosen differently, too.

It may be worthwhile to check out online courses for psychology/sociology. I don't know if these are good alternatives to on-site education, but may be worth checking out.

Good luck to you!!

I'll clean filthy toilets bare-handed before I'll go back to billing. - GeezerChick

[ In Reply To ..]
"I'm afraid I'd be stuck in an office answering phones and dealing with disgruntled patients whose insurance didn't approve this or that."

That's only the tip of the iceberg. You'd probably spend MORE time dealing with stonewalling insurance companies that DID approve the treatment in question (after you made sure the patient was actually covered, and you requested and obtained authorization for the treatment) but then they really make you work to collect the payment, demanding further information, copies of medical records back to the patient's birth (and before), demanding to know why the doctor wanted to give a patient a standard-of-care FDA-approved treatment (imagine that! The nerve!) and dealing with an 86-year-old medical director who hasn't had his hands on a real patient since about 1968, and wouldn't know state-of-the-art medicine if it bit him in the ankle...

And then there are the times when they actually pay the claim--but then they change their minds, make some spurious excuse, and they withhold the money from your next check, and you have to fight tooth and nail to get it back.

One time, they requested the patient's medical records 6 times (and supposedly lost them 6 times, imagine that). Or, if they had the records in hand, the claims were missing. Finally, when someone actually had the medical records and the claims on their desk at the same time, they denied the claim because now it was way past the filing deadline. Of course the patient was long since dead by that time. My boss called his attorney.

Yes. All of those things happened to me. And it was the norm, rather than the exception.

So unless you actually enjoy tearing your hair out and creating multiple head-shaped dents in your walls, run. Run fast, and run far.

Just my 2 cents' worth, having been a biller for over 30 years, watching the system go steadily downhill.

At least as an MT, when something leaves my desk, it's GONE, and it never comes back to bite me.

I hear ya sister - Amen

[ In Reply To ..]
I used to look over at the transcriptionist and want her job. Now I have it and think of billers and thank my star I don't have to do that anymore.

I thank it once again whenever I type a letter of appeal or necessity, or demand or threat trying to get treatment and/or payment.

Then there's the collection from the patient component.

I knew there was a reason I went back to - Cheryl B.

[ In Reply To ..]
MT'ing after 8 years as a biller!! Thanks for reminding me, but coding is actually a bit better. Our coders only code at the hospital, sometimes things get thrown back to them, but if a diagnosis is not documented, then they can't change the code.

So I am pursuing coding also.

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