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

Important Questions - Sinking Ship

Posted: Jan 13, 2015

I am desperate to find a new path after being laid off from mgmt when my job was outsourced to India. I can no longer support myself doing production and HAVE to find a new career. I'm leaning towards coding but am hoping for some answers before taking the plunge and spending money I basically don't have. Forgive me if these questions have been asked before, and thanks in advance for any help/advice you may have.

If I successfully complete a reputable course and get certified, how reasonable is it to expect to find a job? Is it possible to work remotely as a first job? What would be a realistic salary to expect starting out?

Having been an MT/editor for 25+ years, will this be a big help in learning all I need to learn?

Do I want certification thru AAPC or AHIMA – does it matter?

Do you need to first get your CPC, then CPC-H and then CIC, or do you go straight for CIC?

Has anyone attended Career Step training/ been placed with IOD, Inc?

the CCS is recommended - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
You can get your CPC pretty quickly but it will only qualify you for clinic type coding, not inpatient, where the real money and real potential for advancement is. The CPC is through AAPC and the CCS is certification through AHIMA.

Everyone on this board recommends Andrews.

It's kind of tough to get a first job without experience, but it can be done especially with the CCS.

It's doubtful you will be working from home.

I'll leave it to someone else to tell you about expected salaries.

A warning - Computer-assisted coding - Bye-Bye-Coding

[ In Reply To ..]
Please keep this in mind. We are already starting to see a reduction in the amount of coding industry wide. The simple hospital outpatient visits are being coded automatically through software brought to you, of course, by Nuance as an example. The reason why healthcare organizations are switching to templates, instead of dictation, for the providers to complete their documentation, is so that they can use this software. Just like with transcription, over time we will see the coders "training" the software, and ultimately, only the complex hospital encounters will be coded by a human. Just keep in mind that coding will also be skinned down to the bone over time. How fast? I don't know, but given how quickly organizations are moving to pull down lists and templates for the EHR (instead of dictation), I would assume we will see the drop in volumes very quickly.

CAC - cj

[ In Reply To ..]
Please see my post below. We are using computer assisted coding. No way is it going to replace coders. It has no logic powers, doesn't do combination coding, doesn't recognize edits, doesn't know how to sequence, etc., etc., etc. CAC may change the roles of some coders but it won't replace them.

I recall MTs saying that same thing: "We'll - never be replaced by software."

[ In Reply To ..]
Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, I guess.

cac - kt16

[ In Reply To ..]
my advice: ride the horse until it drops but have another waiting; in other words make the most of coding but keep your eyes and your brain open to what's coming next, building upon your reservoir of knowledge and experience. I made lots of money on transcription until that ship went down and jumped onto coding next. There are no guarantees in life and you have to keep up your skills.

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