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

Coding duties - How is it

Posted: Jun 17, 2013

Done at other hospitals or facilities? When you work at a hospital, are you expected to know/code all aspects of the patient care as in E/M, professional/physician, inpatient, emergency room, inpatient stays? Do they separate the professional coding from the facility coding or are you responsible for both? I saw an ad for a VA and it looks like you have to know how to do all of it. How many are doing all of it? The coders I know sort of do one side or the other. Just curious how it works everywhere else.

VA Coding - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Unless a facility is small, coders often specialize. Some might not have ED or clinics at all. Many don't code lab, path, or imaging because those are often done by the physician group's office.

VA coding covers everything, especially at big facilities. Inpatient, ambulatory, outpatient clinics, ED, lab, path, imaging, ancillary services like audiology and rehab. Many also have nursing homes, day treatment, partial hospitalization, etc.

It is kind of a lot to keep in your head at once, so I would say most of their coders specialize, or at least don't do everything at once. They stick to inpatient or outpatient. Professional fees might be done by the inpatient coder or by someone who does only that. Same for things like ambulatory surgery, radiation oncology, interventional radiology.

I can't imagine they would expect you to know it all your first day. In fact, there are so many unique things about their coding that they couldn't expect it. They code everything you do, plus a whole bunch of other things. Cases are longer, more complex, and they don't have a chargemaster. Their new-hires learn one thing at a time.

Which one has the job? It's well worth applying for it. They pay well, have a high percentage of benefits, offer a good amount of their own CEUs, and have a lot of room for advancement. They are also classified as medical professionals and are represented by the AFGE, which is a very strong union.

North Little Rock, - AR nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Yes, that is the standard job description - and requirements

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, that is the job. As you can see, it is a lot for one person to do. Most do only parts of it. The goal is to learn all of it, but you'll notice that it spans 3 grade levels. That is 3 years, roughly.

The requirements are standardized. You will see the same for all these jobs nationwide.

Similar Messages:

Jun 08, 2013

I know they took some of the client duties away from the TSMs, but aren't they supposed to concentrate more on MTs? I hardly ever hear from mine, she doesn't answer the phone, very seldom returns calls or e-mails. Is there an assistant I am supposed to be asking? I am asking here because I can't get an answer from my region. TIA ...

Jul 19, 2012

Okay, AFAIK, a unit secretary is someone who works in a particular unit at a hospital, usually, and handles all sorts of duties. That much I know. But lately, some of the ads for this job seem to be adding on other duties that I didn't think a unit sec. had to know: CNA; monitor technician. So now you have to be trained as a CNA or take courses in telemetry to work as a unit secretary? ...

Mar 20, 2015

Since I missed the word A and a patient suffered a long protracted death because of this error I am now having my rescue dog, Adele, take over my MT position. It is time for her to earn her Kibbles, which incidently is more than what Mmodal pays. I just hope that ASR does not make her run away, which I would not blame her. Maybe Adele will have better luck, LOL. ...

Aug 13, 2013

Accepted a job, gave 2 weeks notice, and yesterday was my first day. I was to be helping out transcription (1000 jobs behind), and then sitting with billing and training with coding as their coder will be out on maternity leave in December. The office is adding another surgeon, and they are rapidly expanding. So I gave a proper 2 weeks' notice to my former employer (2 hours on the road there and back, low salary - now less than half distance and $3 more an hour) and starte ...

May 11, 2010

Is there really such a thing as an AA degree in coding? Sounds odd to me. Health administration or management, or RHIT I can see, but coding? Is it not better to just become Certified even if you dont have an AA degree? ...

Apr 10, 2012

Wondering if there are any coders out there who can give me an idea of the fate of coding due to the EMR. Are there still coding jobs out there? Would it be wise to attend school for coding at this point or do you think it will be lost to the EMR eventually? I live in a rural area and there are advertisements for registered/accredited coders at medical facilities, but I'm afraid of spending all that time and money on schooling only to not be able to find a job. Any information/insight w ...

Oct 07, 2013

I am thinking about changing from MT to coding. Are there many opportunities to work from home with coding? What would be a good school to attend? Thank you for the help. ...

Feb 26, 2014

My sister is taking an online coding course and complains that there is no real "teaching," that she's basically just doing the work in the work book and entering answers online, then taking an online chapter test. This makes me wonder about the necessity of signing up for an actual course. I would like to learn how to code, but to me, without any actual instruction, what's the purpose of signing up for one of these online courses? ...

Apr 15, 2014

Anyone know if MM has an age restriction on new coding students? ...

May 20, 2014

Thanks for your response. ...

Sep 27, 2010

I've been an MT for going on 8 years now, and I've been throwing around the idea of taking a coding class. I would really like to have something else to fall back on, as it seems that MT'ing is going more and more to VR. There's a local coding class that begins in January for $1700, but I wanted to get some feedback of current coders before signing up. Is the demand for coders still fairly high? Is it hard to find a job as a newbie, even with already having experience in the ...

Jan 19, 2011

I have almost 12 years experience as an MT (turn 30 in a month ACK!) My mom has been telling me for a couple years now (since it started going downhill) that I should maybe think about coding as a career. I guess she thinks I'd be good at it, but I have no idea. I have just started my research but I thought I would kind of get some pros and cons about it see if anyone had advice or thoughts on anyone thinking about it. I always feel like I'm too old to start som ...

Dec 27, 2011

What was the best thing about the coding course you took? Did it prepare you for the CCS and CPC exams or maybe just the CCA? Did you take any of those exams and did you pass or fail them? What course did you take? Did you think it was hard or easy? You don't need to answer all of the questions, but maybe a couple of them. Thanks. ...

Feb 11, 2012

there's just ONE little thing that keeps me doubting the possibility of it being a long-term career: I keep seeing more and more ads every week for "at home coders". Does this make you at least a little nervous? It makes me a LOT nervous. We all know that once MTs started working from home, the MT field went into a tailspin, pay-wise, because "work-at-home" seems to translate into "work-in-India", instead. Also I see some ads for MTSOs that also offer coding. ...

Apr 16, 2012

Is Evaluation and management coding hard to learn? ...

May 10, 2012

I am generally pretty good at making my own decisions; however, I need advice on what to do in this situation. I am currently an MT making $55,000-$60,000 year. The last few years MT work slowed down due to VR/EMR and it was harder and harder to replace lost accounts. While I was looking for another client/MTSO to fill the gap last year, I took a college course for coding and passed the CPC thinking I would have a back-up plan if needed; however, I found more MT work shortly after passing the C ...

Aug 14, 2012

I passed the CCS and CPC exam 8 months ago but have yet to find a job :(. I busted my bu** to become a certified coder, and now that I am one, no one will hire me without experience. I live in a small town. We have one hospital. I applied and was flat out told they cannot hire coders without minimum 2 years experience. I asked if I could volunteer or job shadow and they said no. No jobs there in HIM at all. Our local medical clinic has a coding company t ...

Oct 12, 2012

I think it's a good artcile about coding and will give you a glimpse into it too. ...

Jul 09, 2013

Before I take this leap of faith into coding school, will the EHR/VR technology be sinking the coding ship too? ...

Jul 21, 2013

Can anyone help out with a basics coding course I am taking? ...

Mar 12, 2014

Just got an e-mail from my manager stating that if you get accepted into the program, all money paid while training will have to be paid back if you do not complete or pass the course or if you pass and do not stay with the company for 24 months following completion of the training. You also still have to work your regular number of hours. If you can't get your homework done in the 20 paid hours, then you will have to do it on your own time. ...

May 14, 2014

I've seen lots of people ask questions about coding, but I have some questions I haven't seen asked before and was hoping somebody could answer them. I'd hate to go to school for something and then learn the hard way that I hate the job. BTDT and don't want to do it again! -What do you like best about coding? -What do you hate about coding? -What is the most stressful part of the job? -What kinds of people would like coding? Thanks in advance for any answers ...

May 19, 2015

based on reading here that they prepare you for the CCS, which is know is pretty much mandatory . Anyway, what I read there about their coding program sounded really good, but then I read about their transcription program. I now have lost respect for this school. How can I believe what they say about coding when they tout medical transcription as still being a good career? I know I work for the notoriously WORST of the worst company, Nuance, but I think all MT companie ...

Jun 10, 2015

...

Jun 14, 2015

Are some coders doing coding for private practices as an IC from home? MT for 22 years thinking of coding school. If this is being done, how would this work? Would you charge per report? Do you have the reports emailed to you and then how would you do the coding? Would you need to remotely log into their electronic records system? I apologize if these questions sound dumb. Truthfully I really know very little about coding as I have just begun researching ...

Nov 03, 2009

I used to receive a free magazine that was mainly for coding, but it had some MT information. It was more of medical information magazine. I have since stopped receiving it and can't remember the name of it. Does anyone know what I'm tallking about? If so, can you send me the name of the magazine so I can contact them and get another subscription. Thank you. ...

Feb 04, 2010

Any informatioin regarding medical coding and billing? I am thinking about going back to school. I recently lost my MT job. Thanks! ...

Feb 23, 2010

I'd like to know where/how coders out there got there education. I live in central Iowa and took a an "insurance billing" class along with my MT class, at a local community college. However, I did not feel that it was very good training for coding, and the teacher wrote the book/manual herself. We did, however, use the ICD-9 and CPT books in conjunction with her manual. Do most medical coders take their training online, or do they attend a school? If you atten ...

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 ...

Apr 04, 2010

I am wanting to start coding in the next month. I have a question though. Does it make a difference if you have a certificate or associates in it? Is one better than the other? ...