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

Need some sound advice (Former MT) - MTheaded

Posted: Sep 13, 2012

bottom line: NYS Unemployment (or employment office, whatever) will not help me to pay to retrain into another profession (of course, I was making too much money - before taxes, before paying for health benefits, etc!) and no grants available to me (again, even on unemp I make too much money).

Was considering paying for coding course myself. Down payment, so much a month thereafter for 1 year, locked in.

Firstly, anyone have an informed opinion on coding as to - do you think the 22% growth rate by the government is for US workers, or is coding the 'new' medical transcription? Will it be outsourced completely, and if so, how long will that take? I have 10 years to retirement. It took about 10 or so years for the complete demise of US MTs.

Secondly, I have a call in to Unemp but it is quite difficult to get any real answers other than just help with a resume etc. (there are NO jobs where I live in NY, period, unless WalMart or McDonald's) which I am told after 13 weeks I will have to take, even if I need up to 1.5 hours on public transportation. So the question is, does anyone know, if unemp/emp lets you stay on it if you go to a school of your own choice? All I get is that if it is an approved course they would pay for, if one would qualify for tuition assistance, which it is because they do offer coding through the college they work with.

What I am asking is if I take the chance and pay 2000 to 3000 for coding, will there be any jobs left in a year? Because I will also risk losing my unemp to which I would then not be even able to pay for the rest of the course and will be even deeper and deeper in the hole - even if I do find a job at minimum wage.

Hopefully someone will get the idea of what I am asking - Feel free to E also with any responses. This is a HUGE decision as it will also be a financial hardship even with the weekly unemp check, but I am also 55, and NOT at all going to be hired by anyone anywhere else for any real living wage.

Thank you in advance.

I'll try to answer your questions - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm confident that there will be plenty of coding jobs for years to come. It's nothing like MT, although there will be scam companies who will try to do the same thing with it as they did with MT. We'll hear about those things, but they will fail, because coding hits the bottom line of physicians and hospitals. There is also more regulation that will be coming in place to protect the privacy of the patient's medical record.

If there are no jobs in your area though, it wouldn't make sense to train for a job that doesn't exist.

If you should decide to train for a coding position, I wouldn't go with the "college they work with", because in most cases college coding programs are spread out over years and never really give enough coding education to help you get the credentials you need (both CPC and CCS - not just CPC and definitely not CCA, which is worthless) to get a job.

I would say that you need to step back and write out exactly what your options are. Putting it in writing will probably help. From my viewpoint it doesn't look like taking any coding course is going to help you, because there are no jobs in your area anyway. Am I correct? You may actually have to take those Walmart and McDonalds jobs if they are the only ones available and you want to have food to eat.

Actually, there are coding jobs locally - MTheaded

[ In Reply To ..]
and they seem to be good ones, but I worry in 8 to 12 months, maybe there won't be any if they are being outsourced (overseas).

Your opinion helps me a lot, though, because it does give me hope. The school I have chosen is not on the unemp/emp list, though IS listed at the AHIMA site but only lists the CPC and CCA at their website. Would AHIMA recommend someone who does not offer what is needed I wonder?

Coming from 8 years hospital background in MT, I used to mingle with the coders on the 'other side of the room' (they had the windows!) and they were quite nice actually and I got an idea of what they did and was very interested only MT was paying so well at the time, I went home to work and basically did very well for 18 years, up until now. I left MT at the top of my game (bonus, raise, extra week vacation, etc) and was with a top smaller company, who sold out to a HUGE company and then started downsizing. Luckily, there was a severance package and unemp, etc. They were a very good company at the beginning.

My will is there and I am not afraid of the challenge, as long as I make an informed decision. There is mentoring and other help, I know, for beginners; and my goal is to work from home eventually, maybe in 2 years or so.

Now, the coding/billing classes, they are DRGs and CPT and ICD-9 inclusive, yes? I was told ICD-10 has been put on hold again until 2014 so would not be instructed at this time.

The school is offering me a down payment plan, with monthly payments, and includes (supposedly) everything, online because after 18 years of working at home, we have only 1 car in our family and no way to purchase another one, and we live in the country!

It was great while it lasted, I must say. Saying goodbye to MT is really like losing a friend as I LOVE to type, (playing piano and guitar always helped), and I LOVE researching, which might work with coding. After my grieving period, I will be ready to move on though.

Do you think it is possible to learn coding online at home? I am quite determined :)

Answers to two of your questions - see message

[ In Reply To ..]
You asked, "Would AHIMA recommend someone who does not offer what is needed?" Yes, if they donate enough money to the organization, I suspect they would. Also, their own courses keep getting bad reviews for being inadequate and lacking instructors to answer questions.

AHIMA isn't good at teaching, from what I've heard from people who have taken their courses, but they have the best credentials around, the CCS. I'm not a fan of their course, but I'm sure a fan of their credentials!

As far as transportation to class is concerned, I personally have done both online education and classroom. Online is better in every single way, in my opinion. That will always be my choice!

Thank you. - MTheaded

[ In Reply To ..]
Was wondering because they list Kaplan and I researched and they are being investigated for fraud which is why I was asking. Their number is disconnected.

Online is okay then, good to know!

Now I am told by Unemp that I do qualify as a dislocated worker, but last week was not so you really have to dig to find stuff out.

Does it have to be - on the AHIMA list?

[ In Reply To ..]
Just because it is on there doesn't guarantee a good coding education from it. I took an online course in coding. It was not on the AHIMA list. I was able to get my CCS right after. Online was was the only way I could do it, because I live way out. I worked full time and did the course at night and on weekends. It is difficult but it can be done if you are determined, and you are! Also, you are not working so you can devote your full time to it. Good luck!

Coding is not MT. It is very different. - Do more research before signing up.

[ In Reply To ..]
Your first error is that you think coding is very much like MT . . . something to be offshored. There is very little of that happening because the financial stakes are so high. Hospitals and doctors go out of business if they cannot get paid, and they go out of business even faster if they have to pay huge penalties and refund what CMS paid them. And no hospital executive wants to lose his or her job, much less go to federal prison.

I'd recommend doing a little more investigation into what coding is, what it is not, and what jobs you can develop into FROM coding. There are a lot of jobs that use coding skills and knowledge, but which are not possible to be computerized or offshored.

Your second error is that you are trusting a list of approved courses on a website. I checked that list just now and found that there were very few online courses listed. A couple of them were diploma mills. The school that sounds like your description is a school few coders will recommend. We have seen not one graduate pass the CCS exam, and I am not sure we have seen one who passed the CPC.

Yes, you CAN learn coding at home. Probably easier than you can in person, especially easier than at a college.

Be sure you understand what "online" means -- that everything is on a website and you access the material by going screen after screen after screen. There may be no instructors, or instructors who have no certifications, or who have no work experience. If you want copies of course materials, you may have to pay extra for them, only to find that the wonderful textbooks they promised you are not much more than homemade booklets. For instance, a booklet incorporating all of A&P and pathophysiology in 50 pages. And the course might only go as far as the CCA, exam, the "credentialette" that employers have yet to recognize because it tells them that you "are sincere about finally learning" the coding you didn't learn in school and that you want on the job training.

Another school that costs, say, $1K more, might have a website, but be a "DISTANCE" program. They might have highly qualified instructors, use reputable textbooks, be known to produce graduates who pass the CPC and the CCS right out of school, and truly includes EVERYTHING you need, while not requiring you to sit at a computer plowing through screen after screen of drivel. And just happens to provide support forever, even years after you graduate, along with a payment plan that has no interest. Oh, and actually teaches inpatient coding completely separately using the world's best textbook. But, they're not on that list of approved courses, so you'll never find them.

There will - coding jobs

[ In Reply To ..]
yes, especially with ICD-10 coming and many retiring, and also ICD-10 slowing down everyone so more coders will be needed to keep the flow moving. Don't worry, hospitals are investing in their coders on site. Not all of course, but many are paying for education in preparation of ICD-10, paying for refresher courses in A&P. There are also the RAC to consider, it is a constant battle to review charts and a coder's knowledge is valuable. Come on in, it's going to be busy!

Thank you for the responses, they are all good ones! - MTheaded

[ In Reply To ..]
Called Unemp yesterday and was told, yes I do qualify as a dislocated worker and would be eligible for 2400 dollars toward a course in coding.

At the AHIMA site, not quite sure why they list those schools but I would not consider any of them. The college of my choice, Empire State College, in NY does offer distance learning only NOT coding/billing.

Now I just have to find a school that is approved by Unemp and that is going to provide my needs (TY for all that info also, it is invaluable!).

I realize coding is not MT, but I started in Medical Records and have been around all aspects of HI, enough to see what the jobs are all about - even the Cancer and Tumor Registrar, etc.

The MT course I took in 1992 did include medical billing, very basic, but I do understand how the coding directly connects to payment for hospitals - which I remember coders back in the 90s making 25 dollars an hour and I was only making 12 in the hospital. Of course, when I left the hospital to work at home I also started making about 22 dollars an hour, but we know how that story ended!

It is still interesting to note that the government is always so far behind the times: Unemp is still including MT on their list of preferred education (I told the rep to visit this site to get the 'real' story) and are only just now including better courses for coding/billing, with more of the requirements in some of yours posts.

Thanks again, Ladies!

See if Andrews is on your state's list for VR or WIA - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If Andrews is on your state's list, you're in good hands.

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