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

The future of coding - sm

Posted: Aug 13, 2011

I am currently taking a program taught by a coder in my city. It is very in depth and I will be able to sit for the CPC when I finish, but I am worried about the future of coding. I read an article (I can't remember where but was in a health journal of some kind) that in 5 years coding will be mostly computer-assisted, documentation for coding will be 3/4 electronic, and coding staffing levels will be starting to decrease due to technology. Who agrees with this? Am I wasting my time and money on another dead-end career like MT?

You might be okay with just a CPC but why not get a CCS? - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I think you'll get even further if you have a CCS, especially if you have both, if the course you are taking prepares you well enough to pass the CCS.

Who knows what's going to happen 5-10 years from now, but it's going to be a long time before robots can replace all of us. There has to be people to check anything that is done electronically, because of the complexity of coding.

Thanks for your reply. I would like to be a CPC for a while then get my CCS. - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I think it's much, much easier to get a job if you have your CCS - Just a Suggestion

[ In Reply To ..]
If your course prepares you well enough to take the CCS exam, I recommend that you do it as soon as you finish your training. That's the best way to get a coding job, with a CCS behind your name.

Future of Coding - Coder Plus+

[ In Reply To ..]
All career fields change over time -- ALL OF THEM. No matter what you choose to do, you will have to adapt to technology and engage in continuous improvement in order to keep up. This is nothing new -- it has been the case since caveman days, when Zog had to learn to carve a club to bash a mastodon.

You are an MT now, so you are familiar with the framework of the MT occupation. You see that there is one basic "job" in MT, that of manual transcription of recorded dictation. For whatever reason, that occupation has never branched out into anything else. Aside from supervisory and editing advancement, there aren't any natural expansions for MTs. They just stay typing forever.

What do you do when you want another job? You look for something exactly like what you do now. You look for THE SAME JOB, just with a different employer.

You are bringing this same mindset to coding. You see coding as what you are being taught right now. You see it as seeing a diagnosis or procedure, looking it up, and recording the code number. You may go as far as seeing some connection with reimbursement and denials, but that's about it. And, if you are taking a course for the CPC, you are seeing ONLY coding as it relates to physician services.

You aren't seeing that the skills you are learning in that course, while necessary, do not comprise all of coding. They are entry-level skills. THERE IS MORE TO CODING.

If all I did was look up diagnoses and procedures and type numbers into a computer, I would have shot myself ten years ago! I wouldn't be able to stand it! I wouldn't have been happy staying at that pay level all this time.

There is a lot more to coding than there is to MT. In large part, this is because the AAPC and AHIMA, the two major professional organizations, actively work to develop coding as an occupation. They develop expansion opportunities and lobby heavily in favor of coders.

Coding isn't just sitting in some doctor's front office copying numbers from a superbill onto claim forms. It isn't just looking up code numbers, either. There is a lot more to it than that. That's entry-level work and few coders remain there.

There is no immediate financial impact of MT--reimbursement doesn't change no matter who does the typing--but there is a huge financial impact of coding. When your organization's income hinges on coding and when you are liable for huge fines and possible criminal prosecution for coding errors, you are not going to rely on what a doctor checked off or what a computer identified as a code--you are going to invest in human expertise. And you're not going to send it offshore to a company that isn't subject to our legal system, either.

There are tons of more advanced jobs in coding! What you are learning now are entry-level, basic, limited skills. There isn't anything wrong with that, but you need to recognize that you do not have to remain there and that it is not advisable to remain there. You will have to continue to develop yourself!

I think you need to educate yourself on what is available in coding and where you can and should look for the future. There are jobs in consulting, auditing, teaching, clinical documentation improvement, compliance, denials management, high-paying and complicated specialties, data analysis, and more. Every one of them use the skills you are learning now, but they go far beyond that.

Several people have already suggested that you learn inpatient coding. I would agree, because that would open doors for you and give you a much better chance to advance.

You may feel that your course is very comprehensive and in-depth, and it probably is at a physician-services level. But that isn't all of coding. In terms of complexity, it's about one-third of the way to what you need to know. Nothing wrong with that, but knowing more is the key to a great career in coding. Limit yourself now and you will limit yourself forever.

You might not think you're interested in the CCS now, and you might not think you NEED it, but it's a huge credential that opens doors and gives you opportunities that you will never have otherwise. It's a huge, credential-enhancing insurance policy. Lots of coders don't have it, and they're still successful, but everyone here who told you to get it is right on the money.

Will computers wipe out coding? No. They'll just relieve you of the drudgery of looking up codes by hand.

Awesome post, thanks! - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Agree - Another coder

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with your original post, I'm already seeing it happen where I work. We're seeing more of a need for analysts/audtors and people to abstract data than actual coders. Having coding training can open door to a lot of other jobs.

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