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

A question for the actual coders here. - a student

Posted: Jun 18, 2015

In your daily job, do you code from scratch or do you more or less verify codes that have already been put there?

With the course I'm taking I'm noticing most of the exams are more of a mutliple choice and less of coding it myself. I'm wondering if that's how it works in the real world.

Coding from multiple choice is not coding - Definitely from scratch

[ In Reply To ..]
Are you talking about a form with certain codes, procedures, and diagnoses listed on it and you select one? That is called a Superbill and is used by physicians in small practices. That's not coding.

Hopefully you are just at the very start of your course in some kind of a warm-up. If you get to Week 2 and you are still not learning to code from scratch, that would be a real serious problem for you.

What credentials do the instructors hold?

What credential do they claim to be preparing you for? You need both CPC and CCS, never the CCA since that's somewhat of a trap where you can't get a job and can't move up to the CCS.

Have graduates of that course been successful at passing those credentials?

response - a student

[ In Reply To ..]
I have no doubt my course is top-notch, as is my instructors, but I'm wondering if the doctors code procedures (I know my family doctor will jot down a code of some kind before I take it to the desk to make my copay). Are you verifying what they've already put? That's my question.

Also, the CPC credential test is all multiple choice from what I understand. I don't know why they'd present a test that way if that's not how you'll be doing it at real job.

Yes, you are taking what they wrote and plopping it on an insurance form - No coding necessary in that case

[ In Reply To ..]
No coding is necessary in that case. You take what the doctor has selected and plop it onto an insurance form.

When you are learning to code, multiple choice answers are not sufficient.

On a certification exam, they are not teaching. You are already expected to know how to code. It would be impossible for them to test you on the entire process, which is not as simple as multiple choice. They can't do that, so the multiple choice exam is the best method of testing to see if you know how to code. You definitely won't be doing it that way on the job, and that's most definitely not the way to learn to code. You might learn medical billing that way, but not coding.

How would you grade a test if it was all write-in - answers?

[ In Reply To ..]
Considering the number of codes possible on an encounter, not to mention inpatient stay, how would you grade many hundreds of tests? How would you ask 300 or more questions???

If you had to code 300 encounters, each with a bunch of codes, it would take you three to four days. Multiple choice enables them to test a greater range of material.

It does not make things much easier. The questions they will give you are not going to be as simple as the ones you see now. You will have to know what you are doing to pick out the right combination of codes from 4 or 5 slightly different lists, especially as fast as you will need to do it on the exam.

The reason I'm asking - Definitely from scratch

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm guessing you don't know what credentials your instructors have, because that's hugely important and you would have said specifically what they have if you knew.

The reason I'm asking is, the person who made up a course that doesn't teach you from scratch may have "Billing" credentials or some sort of educational doctorate, but no practical coding credentials. That is the only way to explain why they would have created a multiple choice method of teaching medical coding. You may not be in a course that prepares you the way you thought it did. Students are notorious about not realizing that their course doesn't qualify them for the CCS until they finish, for example. You may not actually be in a coding course at all, but in a billing course. If "Medical Billing" in in the course title, you aren't taking a "Medical Coding" course, and the teaching method would be fine, for Medical Billing. You aren't learning to code.

All students think their course is "top notch" - Coding vs billing

[ In Reply To ..]
All students think their course is "top notch" and their instructors have the ultimate credentials, even students of schools that have no textbooks and no instructors except the fake ones pictured on the brochure.

You might be wondering why some posts here seem doubtful about whether you are learning coding or billing. It is because you said this ... "I'm wondering if the doctors code procedures (I know my family doctor will jot down a code of some kind before I take it to the desk to make my copay)."

That scenario is what occurs in many offices. The doctor is indicating what the codes are. The person who does something with it to turn it into a bill is not a "coder," even if they call themselves that. That person is a biller.

Doctors in small practices usually DO choose codes themselves. They have always done this. They only use professional coders intermittently to set up their code sets on their charge tickets, to conduct audits of coding accuracy, to evaluate documentation adequacy, and to provide training for the doctor and the staff.

See the difference between billing and coding? You are describing the billing. We do the latter, the coding.

Professional Coders do not use codes chosen by others. They read original documentation to determine what the procedures were and what justified them (the diagnosis or reason for care). They evaluate the adequacy of the documentation, identify missing elements, and ask for clarification. They juggle many conflicting requirements of players and organizations. They are professionally responsible for code assignment. For that reason, they can be found liable when fraudulent practices occur.

Professional Coders typically work in large practices, ambulatory settings in facilities, and inpatient hospital settings. They do more complex coding rather than the easy, rote stuff your doctor codes. Inpatient coders actually put together the documentation from entire hospital stays from 1 day to months to years.

It would be interesting to know what course you are taking. I suspect it is not Andrews because you would not be solely focused on the CPC and your course materials would have communicated the reality of coding, which you would have noticed did not jive with the scenario in your doctor's office.

You will not learn to code by multiple choice - Please see message

[ In Reply To ..]
In a course that gives introductory-level overviews of medical billing and coding, it's often taught that way. In a medical coding course students are taught where to start and how to proceed toward the correct code and how to recognize it once you get there. It is impossible to learn anything of value about medical coding by multiple choice.

Exams are not a reflection of real-life coding - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
Exams are often multiple choice because (1) it is difficult to grade them otherwise, and (2) your course needs to prepare you for certification exams, which will be multiple choice.

Would you question multiple choice questions in anatomy? No. Coding is no different.

The CCS exam used to require you to actually write in your code. Now I think they give you a list of choices.

We code from scratch. People who plop in codes checked off by doctors are billers, not professional coders.

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