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Feedback from those of you in coding school - Aspiring coder

Posted: Aug 13, 2010

How are classes going for you? Is coding what you thought it would be? I have to say that there is much more to learn than I thought there would be but I really enjoy the research that is involved in the coding process, it is so important to read everything! Learning the sequencing of codes has probably been the most difficult thing for me so far (I'm having trouble with the septicemia codes), but I understand a little more each day. The ICD-9 coding guidelines definitely require a lot of study.

I was able to make a "field trip" and observe one of our coders at work and was fortunate to spend a couple of hours there. I had not seen encoding software being used before, so that was helpful. I could compare the medical record content (handwritten progress notes, nurses' notes) to examples of reports I had in my class modules. I feel as if I am taking baby steps but hopefully it will all be worthwhile.

There have not been any messages in the coding forum for quite a while, I was curious about how all of you were doing. Please share if time permits, thanks.

Thanks - sm - Aspiring coder

[ In Reply To ..]
I appreciate the feedback and support from my fellow students.....Not!

Not! - jm

[ In Reply To ..]
Iâ��m not a student but you sound like you are doing great. How many months into your course are you? Did they tell you about sequencing and guidelines right from the start or is that something you just got into? Septicemia IS complicated. I hope some other students come on and talk because I know how you sort of want to share what you are going through with like-minded people! It gets lonely studying all the time. You'd think they would feel the same.

Sequencing - sm - Aspiring coder

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi JM - We got into the sequencing of codes gradually, getting increasingly more complicated, what they are doing is going through the chapter-specific guidelines in order and giving us things to practice. I guess I was getting too confident because I was doing really well on the other exercises, but I have had to practice those sepsis/septicemia codes quite a bit to get the order and the additional codes required straight in my head. I located some web sites that help. I started my course at the end of April, I think it will take me about a year to finish. Maybe my fellow students are all too busy, but I have missed the chatter on the coding board lately.

Thanks for responding.

Do you feel entitled to that, and why do you demand it? - Just wondering

[ In Reply To ..]
It's that kind of attitude that makes it less likely that anyone is going to want to participate.

??? - Aspiring coder

[ In Reply To ..]
Which kind of attitude are you referring to?

how it's going - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm doing pretty well at Andrews but it's definitely getting harder. I'm a little over halfway through. I agree the sequencing is pretty tricky and there are lots of little rules that are hard to remember. I keep thinking about which certification test I want to take eventually and keep changing my mind.

Sorry for taking so long to reply but my daughter is leaving for college at the end of the week and it's just been really busy for me. I'm taking next week off just to get caught up.

How's it going - Aspiring coder

[ In Reply To ..]
No problem, glad you're still out there. It's just going to take memorization and practice. I'm saving all my quizzes and exams and then go back and re-work the ones I missed until I get the correct solution!

I had this week off so I've had more time to go on the message boards, it's a busy time for a lot of people. After school starts again maybe people will come back.

Have fun, good luck with coding.

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