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Coding career question - anon


Posted: Sep 22, 2011

What are the opportunities for coding within a specialty medical clinic, i.e. orthopedics? 

I am currently halfway through a coding course and I feel like I would be happiest working within a clinic rather than a hospital.  I just wonder what opportunities exist and what the average salaries would be for outpatient coding within a clinic.  Do these jobs even exist?  Or would a job within a clinic also include billing and other related duties, not just coding reports all day long? 

Depends on where you live. Also, all clinics are not the same - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
You would first have to check to see what clinics are available in your surrounding area. They are all going to be organized in different ways. In some of them you will have to do everything from making coffee and preparing exam rooms to entering a few numbers on a Superbill, which isn't really coding. In others, you would have to have the level of skills expected in a hospital, and all you would do is code.

In some clinics, you might just be given all the charts for one specialty or sub-specialty and that's all you would work on...ever. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. Some coders would enjoy it and others would want more variety. You'll find jobs with more prestige at the hospitals, in my opinion, not that prestige has ever been my goal, but benefits in hospitals tend to be better than in some clinics. That varies too. Some clinics may have great benefits. It depends on where you live and what clinics and hospitals are in your area.


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