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

Why all the coding bashing? - sick and tired

Posted: Jul 12, 2013

I am kind of upset to see all the coding route bashing going on, even on the main board. I don't think deciding to change career path from MT into ANYTHING else is a bad decision. Of course, we who are leaving MT and going into coding are not taking this decision lightly. We do not think that coding is a PERFECT fix for our situations. I myself am very apprehensive about how difficult the program will be and of course I have my worries about getting my foot in the door but I do not expect to land a $40,000/year coding job from home on my own schedule. I rather have realistic expectations that I will need to get my foot in the proverbial door in some kind of office/desk job within the medical records department or elsewhere and having those coding credentials will open more doors that might have been shut otherwise. Gosh, I see that most medical assisting job postings now want coding knowledge and/or experience. I can't see going to a good coding school as being a completely stupid thing to do but it seems there are a lot of nay-sayers out there trying to make us think we are wasting our time and money. What gives with all the negativity?? And as for the poster who said Career Step told her that coding will be morphing into an easy point-and-click system that will make coders pretty much obsolete, I dare say I can't see that happening either. Any REAL coders out there with an opinion on this?

Not a coder yet....but I see what you mean. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I think a lot of the stuff on this board is so negative, whether it's MT related or coding related (mostly MT of course), so it's best just to stay away and talk to people in the 3D world who are working in coding. That's what I did. I talked to one of the instructors at the community college where I'll be taking their coding program, and she tells me coding is not going anywhere, especially with the roll-out of ICD-10. And yes, she has her coding credentials and has worked in the field - RHIA and CCS credentialed. I see lots of coding jobs in my area also, which I find pretty reassuring. If nothing else, you'll gain another skill which will make you more marketable in the long run, and that's always a plus.

My opinion - Definitely Real Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
The post that talked about point and click was from a college career counselor, not someone at Career Step.

The negativity is from people who seem to be Debbie Downers in general. My guess is that they are just unhappy sorts who can't stand that peopleare succeeding in a field they are either afraid of or failed at.

Don't be afraid that coding is too difficult. It won't be.

Similar Messages:

Mar 23, 2010

Just wondering how many of you use MQ equipment while doing this. ...

May 13, 2010

Having been on a break and out of the loop for a few weeks, I went back to read some of the posts I had missed. I was shocked and appalled by the comments I read regarding TTS. I am a former (retired) TTS employee. I have worked for a number of companies during my career, some of them mentioned in the posts, and TTS is by far (in my opinion) the best. During my years at TTS, I was always treated with courtesy and respect. TTS is the only company that treated me like ...

Jan 21, 2011

x ...

Apr 20, 2011

Just once, it would be nice to see some positive feedback regarding TransTech. I see all of the bashing on this board and rarely ever see any positive words. TransTech is a good company; I've been with them for 5+ years now and I LOVE THEM. They are very helpful, always willing to accomodate time off requests, my pay check is always on time and correct to the penny, and they also have pretty good benefits. If you run out of work, they are quick to give you a se ...

Mar 05, 2013

If our production was supposed to "double" with VR, they could've easily just "doubled" our quota. This would've reduced our pay with the reduction/elimination of incentive pay, but at least we would've been able to preserve our cpl rate. VR isn't the problem, any more than expanders, shortcuts, macros, and even computers (versus typewriters and stenopads) were the problem. All of these things have boosted our productivity over the years, making individual MTs more productiv ...

Oct 04, 2011

This is how it went for Webmedx a few months before they sold to Nuance. I sure hope not, because I love my job and do not want to go back to working for Medquist. ...

Oct 25, 2011

seems out of sort, sorry! Just don't get it! ...

Aug 13, 2013

Accepted a job, gave 2 weeks notice, and yesterday was my first day. I was to be helping out transcription (1000 jobs behind), and then sitting with billing and training with coding as their coder will be out on maternity leave in December. The office is adding another surgeon, and they are rapidly expanding. So I gave a proper 2 weeks' notice to my former employer (2 hours on the road there and back, low salary - now less than half distance and $3 more an hour) and starte ...

May 11, 2010

Is there really such a thing as an AA degree in coding? Sounds odd to me. Health administration or management, or RHIT I can see, but coding? Is it not better to just become Certified even if you dont have an AA degree? ...

Apr 10, 2012

Wondering if there are any coders out there who can give me an idea of the fate of coding due to the EMR. Are there still coding jobs out there? Would it be wise to attend school for coding at this point or do you think it will be lost to the EMR eventually? I live in a rural area and there are advertisements for registered/accredited coders at medical facilities, but I'm afraid of spending all that time and money on schooling only to not be able to find a job. Any information/insight w ...

Oct 07, 2013

I am thinking about changing from MT to coding. Are there many opportunities to work from home with coding? What would be a good school to attend? Thank you for the help. ...

Feb 26, 2014

My sister is taking an online coding course and complains that there is no real "teaching," that she's basically just doing the work in the work book and entering answers online, then taking an online chapter test. This makes me wonder about the necessity of signing up for an actual course. I would like to learn how to code, but to me, without any actual instruction, what's the purpose of signing up for one of these online courses? ...

Apr 15, 2014

Anyone know if MM has an age restriction on new coding students? ...

May 20, 2014

Thanks for your response. ...

Jul 12, 2011

75 cents to a dollar may be good for BEGINNING RadMTs, but it is hardly fair for a RadMT who has been doing it for 10 years or more! When they offer an acute care MT 5 or 6 cents a line, people lose their minds! Actually, I have seen mobs lose their minds when offered 7 or 8 cents! So why should we settle? $1.20 is hardly fair when you have been making more than $1.50! Literally, some of us lost thousands of dollars a year! Personally I started out makin ...

Sep 27, 2010

I've been an MT for going on 8 years now, and I've been throwing around the idea of taking a coding class. I would really like to have something else to fall back on, as it seems that MT'ing is going more and more to VR. There's a local coding class that begins in January for $1700, but I wanted to get some feedback of current coders before signing up. Is the demand for coders still fairly high? Is it hard to find a job as a newbie, even with already having experience in the ...

Jan 19, 2011

I have almost 12 years experience as an MT (turn 30 in a month ACK!) My mom has been telling me for a couple years now (since it started going downhill) that I should maybe think about coding as a career. I guess she thinks I'd be good at it, but I have no idea. I have just started my research but I thought I would kind of get some pros and cons about it see if anyone had advice or thoughts on anyone thinking about it. I always feel like I'm too old to start som ...

Dec 27, 2011

What was the best thing about the coding course you took? Did it prepare you for the CCS and CPC exams or maybe just the CCA? Did you take any of those exams and did you pass or fail them? What course did you take? Did you think it was hard or easy? You don't need to answer all of the questions, but maybe a couple of them. Thanks. ...

Feb 11, 2012

there's just ONE little thing that keeps me doubting the possibility of it being a long-term career: I keep seeing more and more ads every week for "at home coders". Does this make you at least a little nervous? It makes me a LOT nervous. We all know that once MTs started working from home, the MT field went into a tailspin, pay-wise, because "work-at-home" seems to translate into "work-in-India", instead. Also I see some ads for MTSOs that also offer coding. ...

Apr 16, 2012

Is Evaluation and management coding hard to learn? ...

May 10, 2012

I am generally pretty good at making my own decisions; however, I need advice on what to do in this situation. I am currently an MT making $55,000-$60,000 year. The last few years MT work slowed down due to VR/EMR and it was harder and harder to replace lost accounts. While I was looking for another client/MTSO to fill the gap last year, I took a college course for coding and passed the CPC thinking I would have a back-up plan if needed; however, I found more MT work shortly after passing the C ...

Aug 14, 2012

I passed the CCS and CPC exam 8 months ago but have yet to find a job :(. I busted my bu** to become a certified coder, and now that I am one, no one will hire me without experience. I live in a small town. We have one hospital. I applied and was flat out told they cannot hire coders without minimum 2 years experience. I asked if I could volunteer or job shadow and they said no. No jobs there in HIM at all. Our local medical clinic has a coding company t ...

Oct 12, 2012

I think it's a good artcile about coding and will give you a glimpse into it too. ...

Jul 09, 2013

Before I take this leap of faith into coding school, will the EHR/VR technology be sinking the coding ship too? ...

Jul 21, 2013

Can anyone help out with a basics coding course I am taking? ...

Mar 12, 2014

Just got an e-mail from my manager stating that if you get accepted into the program, all money paid while training will have to be paid back if you do not complete or pass the course or if you pass and do not stay with the company for 24 months following completion of the training. You also still have to work your regular number of hours. If you can't get your homework done in the 20 paid hours, then you will have to do it on your own time. ...

May 14, 2014

I've seen lots of people ask questions about coding, but I have some questions I haven't seen asked before and was hoping somebody could answer them. I'd hate to go to school for something and then learn the hard way that I hate the job. BTDT and don't want to do it again! -What do you like best about coding? -What do you hate about coding? -What is the most stressful part of the job? -What kinds of people would like coding? Thanks in advance for any answers ...

May 19, 2015

based on reading here that they prepare you for the CCS, which is know is pretty much mandatory . Anyway, what I read there about their coding program sounded really good, but then I read about their transcription program. I now have lost respect for this school. How can I believe what they say about coding when they tout medical transcription as still being a good career? I know I work for the notoriously WORST of the worst company, Nuance, but I think all MT companie ...

Jun 10, 2015

...

Jun 14, 2015

Are some coders doing coding for private practices as an IC from home? MT for 22 years thinking of coding school. If this is being done, how would this work? Would you charge per report? Do you have the reports emailed to you and then how would you do the coding? Would you need to remotely log into their electronic records system? I apologize if these questions sound dumb. Truthfully I really know very little about coding as I have just begun researching ...