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

The future of coding? - Val

Posted: Mar 31, 2015

So I am currently an MT with 10+ years under my belt. I decided to go to school for coding and switch careers while I still had the chance. I am currently saving up for school, and my tax refund is going to put me over the top so I can start next month. But now I am reading (on this board) about the possibility that coding is going to start going the way of transcription (i.e., automation, computerized coding, etc.) and that coding jobs are going to start losing value just as MT jobs have lost their value.

I really need some advice here: Do y'all think it's still worth it for me to start school for coding, or will it be a fruitless effort if automated coding is going to start eating up all the jobs? Would I just be better off just looking to get out of healthcare altogether and start in a new industry while I'm still relatively young?

Yes, I know the variables are endless... but I'm just looking for opinions here.

Do your research. I'm currently in a coding course - coder student sm

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and I have high hopes when I'm finished. I've read a lot of positive things that led me to make my decision to go for it.

No guarantees in life, but medical coding has more potential than most - In My Opinion

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I would say that you should go for it! There are not very many careers that are guaranteed. I think medical coding is going to be around for a very long time. I also think we will hear all kinds of scare stories. Some of these will be because there will always be companies that only look for cheap labor; others from people who are afraid of everything. As those people cringe in fear, others are enjoying the best careers of their lives and wishing they hadn't waited so long. Your choice which of those you want to be, in my opinion. I hope you make a good decision, whatever that decision is. Wishing you the best.

I think coders will be in huge demand - sm

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When ICD-10 finally rolls out, I believe there won't be enough coders to fill the jobs. This is just my opinion.

I am already seeing that happen - sm

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I'm sure it will increase as the date gets closer, but I'm already seeing employers getting anxious about not being able to find enough credentialed ICD-10 medical coders.

Coding is not just one job. - Coder

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Coding is not just one job -- there are many jobs that require coding skills yet are not strictly coding and even more that build on it. Even if coding disappear tomorrow, those jobs would still be around.

That claim that coding will be just like MT comes up here monthly. It always seems to be the same non-coder people who make the claim too. Like they would know.

Please see the link below to the AHIMA Career website, which will show you all the jobs in and around coding. Those are the jobs you can move into from coding.

MT now coder here - anon

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I was so discouraged with what was happening to MT that I HAD to make a change. I was older when I started, so I had a lot of reasons to not try, but I was determined to get out of MT. I heard the same rumors, and as someone else mentioned there are no "sure things" anymore. I have had a coding job for close to a year now, and I am SO glad I persevered. It is night and day from MT. Our office has 2 openings right now for coders, as they are preparing for ICD-10. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Congratulations on Your New Medical Coding Career! - sm

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Your accomplishments set a good example for others to follow. Well done!

I am another MT - to coder

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I also transitioned to coding a little over a year ago from transcription. It has been a journey, it has not always been easy, but overall I am glad I got out of transcription and into coding. There are also many directions to go from just doing the actual coding work.

Anything that can be done at home can be - off shored.

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Get yourself a CDL. I'd like to see them send trucking to India!!!

I choose not to be crippled by fear. - Coder

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No message.

I choose to retire. - Lucky me.

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nm

Good for you, but the rest of us need to work. - Interested in realistic options.

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NM

there is a difference between being scared and making a smart - career decision.

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No one here is "cripped by fear" they are making informed decisions and moving on with their lives.

Sorry, but I disagree - sm

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Sorry, but saying that anything that can be done at home will be offshored is not "making an informed decision."

That is all-or-none thinking. You can't know that. Period. You can believe it, but you can't know it.

It is a very popular view here for understandable reasons, but you cannot generalize your unfortunate experience in MT to everything else. That applies especially to jobs you know nothing about.

I don't fear offshoring because my job flat out can't be offshored. Period.

I think we all (MTs) got comfortable, got hurt, and assume - every situation is the same

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Many of us have been MTs for years. We loved it and got very comfortable with it. The employers got even cozier with our professional organization, which made things go downhill fast, in my opinion. That's when some MTs decided that it was like this for every career. It's true that no career is perfect or guaranteed to always stay the same, but some just have a negative attitude and have become totally paranoid. I am not one of those people.

The fact that everyone promoted MT as something you can do in your 'jammies' also didn't help. It wasn't exactly a professional picture and did us a lot of harm.

Coding has many more options and is not a one-size-fits all occupation. It also pays way better than MT ever did, even at its best.

No doubt, but maybe they should stop focusing on it. - Get a better attitude, ya know?

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NM

Coding is an informed career decision - Thoughts on that

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I'm not working as a coder but do work in HIM. To me, coding certainly makes more sense than working at Whole Foods, Kroger's, McDonald's, cleaning houses or collecting garbage, which are some of the suggestions being made for people trying to get out of transcription. I don't see much future in jobs like that at all.

Nothing wrong with those but more money in coding - From What I Have Seen

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There's nothing wrong with any of those job options, but I really like the greater monetary potential with medical coding. I'm okay with other people making a different decision if they want.

The future looks pretty bright where I work, although.... - nothing is for sure in this life. please sm

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I worried about this, too, but finally decided to take the plunge and go back to school. I'm so glad I did. While I know that coding can (and will) change in the future, I do believe that coders (real human ones) will be needed for quite some time, if not forever. Where I work, there is no way a computer could code from the documentation I see. There are just too many variables.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth. Good luck to you!

Coding isnt going anywhere but finding a job as an inexperienced - coder is the problem

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I know 3 people who finished courses and couldn't find jobs because they had no experience. I was offered coding training by my company and took it because of the apprenticeship and guaranteed job but I would never pursue it on my own. Good luck.

On the other hand I know MT2coders with several coding - job offers

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If you take a very minimal course, you probably won't find work. I know people who did that. Now they think everyone is in the same boat; they aren't. Several MT2coders that I know got more than one job offer, but they got very solid coding training too. They really know how to code too because they've passed CPC and CCS as well as employer exams, and got jobs. When you talk to them, they can talk knowledgeably about the code book and its structure. It's obvious that they are coding professionals, CREDENTIALED coding professionals, with jobs---in fact, several job offers to choose from.

Every working coder I know got a job without experience. - Coder

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That is unfortunate about those 3 people, but you cannot generalize their experience to all coders. It is NOT TRUE that it is impossible or even hard to find a coding job without experience.

It is actually EASIER to find a job in coding than it is in most other occupations, but you need to have the right credentials.

The fact of the matter is that employers don't want to have to train you. Unless you have the credentials they need, they have to train you.

For a long time, the CPC had a 25% unemployment rate. It is now down to about 10%. If all you will do is a 4 month AAPC course, that covers only outpatient (i.e., only one-third of) coding and no AP, no pathophysiology, no pharmacology, no reimbursement, and no advanced coding, then you take your chances getting a job.

Invest in the 12 months that it takes to learn the other two-thirds plus the basic sciences and coding at the advanced level, and you can pass the credentials exams that tell employers you are job-ready and do not require training. That gives you a better shot at a job. At better jobs at higher pay, too.

I don't know what course your three friends took, but it sounds like a local adult ed or AAPC course. Whatever, I am tired of hearing their experience held up to others as a warning against an entire career field.

Every coder working today at some point got a job when they had no experience. I did. All the rest of us here did. I would be interested to hear your explanation for how we managed it.

I couldn't agree with you more. - sm

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You said just exactly what I've been thinking as I read all those messages about how nobody will ever get a job as a new coder, nobody ever could, ever will. None of that is true. You just need a better coding education and some self-confidence that comes from knowing you had a great coding education that prepared you for the employment and certification tests. It's all about getting that education, not just taking a basic course and thinking that's what it's all about. It never was and never will be, but there are those who will always believe that a brief basic education is sufficient.

If money is a serious issue, save for it - My Advice

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If money is an issue, don't just jump at the cheapest thing you can find. Save your money and get that solid education that results in credentials and jobs. Nothing else makes sense. You are doing nothing but wasting money, time, and effort by taking what looks like the easy path. We all know from watching other people do it. It doesn't work. Experts tell us this all the time, and everybody thinking about a medical coding career should listen. Get the solid education from the beginning and get on with it. If you had started saving 2 years ago, you'd be halfway there by now.

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