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

Not to sound like a broken record, but - sm

Posted: Oct 29, 2010

what is the best school to go to (online) for becoming a coder? I have been an MT for 15 years and tired of the feast/famine. Is there financial aid available? I cannot afford even $250 down and $100 a month. Also, are there any companies that hire coders to work at home right out of school? Thanks for any help!!

coding information - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think anyone can say which is the best online coding program as that's a matter of opinion. There might be one that's best for you, based on your needs and style of learning. But only you can answer that by looking into the different programs available and talking to a representative or other students. Both Andrews and Career Step have programs with good reputations but there are probably others as well. I'm not certain, but I don't believe most of the online programs have financial aid aside from payment plans. If you can't even afford to make payments, I don't know what to tell you aside from some sort of loan. From what I know, you have to have a lot of experience in coding to be able to work from home and even then, coding from home is not as popular as MT from home. I have not heard of any companies that will hire a beginner to code from home. I hope this helped some.

It does help a lot:) Thank you - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

See my post below - Daughter wants to go into coding/billing

[ In Reply To ..]
I believe you're 100% correct in your assertion that most facilities will not hire someone to immediately code from home unless they have a vast amount of experience. The hospitals for which I have worked as an MT (and MTs were usually housed with the coders/billers) had their coders work in-house for at least a year before they would consider letting them work from home.

My daughter is applying today for a local hospital which is looking for data entry clerks to input the billing information for inpatient treatments. I told her this would most definitely be great for her, since she wants to go into coding/billing and this would give her some exposure to it and also would get her foot in the door at the hospital so that when she does complete her coding course, she will be able to apply internally for a transfer into the coding department.

Thanks for the info!

Good luck to your daughter - Raine59

[ In Reply To ..]
Good luck to your daughter in getting that job. It sounds like a good way to get her foot in the door and maybe find out if she would really enjoy learning more about the field. Let us know if she gets it.

Will do... - Daughter wants to go into coding

[ In Reply To ..]
Jobs are in such short supply these days I suspect she's going to have a lot of competition as it's an entry level position. I told her we'll just cross our fingers that she can make it to the interview process before being eliminated. I have a feeling if she explains to the recruiting officer or department manager her aspirations of becoming a coder, she'll have an even better shot at the job. I find it kind of funny I've been an MT for all of her life but when I asked her about going into the MT field and she and I working together, her reply was, "No offense, mom, but that job looks really BORINGGG." I was crushed, lol!

Coding - MT2coder

[ In Reply To ..]
What you need to look at is the credentialing exam you will be eligible to sit for after taking the course. Hospital coding is different work and different pay than physician office and each require different credentials.

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