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

Coding v. Transcription/Editing - NewGirl

Posted: Aug 22, 2013

Hey Everyone!

I'm going to take a chance and attempt to get some objective answers to my questions. I'm interested in pursuing training to become an MT/Editor, mainly because I'm very interested in working part time from home. I'm an extremely diligent worker with a lot of attention to detail and am very self-motived, which makes me feel like I may have some of what's needed to do the job. I currently work as a law assitant, which is a great job in an extremely crappy work environment. I do not need to make huge amounts of money, just enough to supplement my husband's income. Am I a day late and a dollar short trying to get into this industry? Should I consider Coding instead? I understand that with Coding it may not be as easy to get a job working from home, but do you think that's a possiblity after a couple years of experience? If I'm going to spend the money and the time on the training, I want to have some insight into what I'm getting into and make sure I am on the right path.

Also, for either career, can you suggest the best schools/training programs?

And a somewhat related question: Can I keep my Mac if I attempt to go this route? Or do I have to bite the bullett and buy a PC?

Thanks for any help you could give me. And please be frank but nice. I've read the posts- I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!

I could never in good conscience encourage - someone to go to school for MT.

[ In Reply To ..]
Just because I'm trying so hard to get out of MT. I'm applying everywhere, but it's very hard to get a job after you've worked at home for many years. People are afraid to hire you.

I can't say anything about coding, because I don't know. I tried asking once and got jumped on, so I never brought it up again.

Good luck.

Run away and don't look back. MT is dead. - just sayin. no message

[ In Reply To ..]
x

one opinion - nicknamealias

[ In Reply To ..]
Even when there were dozens of companies hiring, they did not want to take on inexperienced MTs. Major complaint used to be how to break into the field. If you study MT, you are throwing your money away. There are no jobs. There will be no jobs. MTs scrambling to find something, anything to replace their lost jobs. Coding will be offsourced too. It would actually be easier to offsource since the foreign workers would not need to know the little idiosyncracies of American speech. If you must work from home try customer service or babysitting. Just dont throw your training cash away.

Your only sure bet - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
If you are dead set on becoming an MT and working from home on your MAC, the only way you can succeed for certain is to divorce your husband and marry a doctor. you can transcribe his notes at home while he is away doing surgery or such.

NewGirl - Leaving MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I'll start by answering your question about training programs. I don't know about coding, but for MT, Andrews is the way to go. Andrews will give you the competitive edge to find a transcription job where you can hit the ground running working from home, and you will be able to compete with MTs with years and years of experience.

I am not sure about the Mac. Perhaps someone else can address that.

Here is what I perceive the MT industry is like right now - the bigger transcription companies seem to be terrible to work for, the pay is low, the accounts are difficult with the easy stuff going offshore, and the management and QA at these big companies seems horrible. I am basing my opinions a lot by what I read here, so caveat lector. I work for a small MTSO and love my MT job, am paid fairly, and have great management and QA support, but I am training to get out of MT because our work has slowed down and I am just not sure how much longer this great company will be around. I don't like what I am seeing out there in terms of MT opportunities, so I have decided to leave MT. I am not about to edit speech drafts for 4 cents a line (I currently only do straight typing).

I think that if you decide on Andrews, and you don't need benefits or full-time work, then you could probably find a nice small MTSO to subcontract with that is decent, especially if you do really well at Andrews. Maybe not so much if you aren't the cream of the crop in terms of your average grade.

With all that said, I would strongly discourage you from entering the MT field. In the short time I have been doing MT, 5 years, I have seen a steady decline the profession as a whole in terms of pay, job satisfaction, and availability of work.

I cannot address any of your coding questions. Perhaps someone in that field can help out more with that. I decided not to enter that field myself because I felt like it would be very hard to break into without already working for a healthcare facility and having some connections. I have always done MT from home, so I have no connections in that area. I went with something that had an internship required (actually a clinical rotation) so that I could make some connections that way.

Good luck!

run far, far away from BOTH mt and coding - both are being offshored faster than lightning

[ In Reply To ..]
please don't waste your time and money.

Opinion - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree, it is going to be difficult to get a job as a new MT/editor and from what I gather from the posts it is difficult to find a good company. It is going to take a while for you to get fast enough and to learn the terminology to make any money at all. I am not sure how many companies accept Macs, the platforms are all pretty much Windows based. I don't think coding is getting offshored at a rapid rate, but it is even more difficult getting a coding job when you are new to the field than it is with MT. You need to pass a nationally recognized credential exam to have a chance at all, and coding is not something you want to approach as something to supplement your husband's income, it is difficult and no employer is going to take you seriously if all you are looking for is a little extra income. Don't expect to be working at home doing coding any time soon, it doesn't happen that often except perhaps for people with several years of experience. All I can say is the grass might appear to be greener on the other side of the fence. My advice is don't quit your current job even though the environment may not be good. Working at home is not all it's cracked up to be, IMO. I hope this answers your questions and that I didn't offend anyone, a person never knows.

I did not lie - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
To quote what I said, "I don't think coding is getting offshored at a rapid rate,..." If a person is working in other areas of HIM, as I am because I could not get a traditional coding job, then they are not coding. To work in HIM or to work with electronic medical records, it is not necessary to know how to code. Actually, my MT background is what got me the job and is what has helped me move into other areas. Unless you are a new coder looking for their first job, you cannot speak to how difficult (and competitive) that is. I am not a liar and I have been on the MT and the coding side, so I know what I am saying. You are the one getting defensive any time someone else does not see things your way.

That post was not addressed to YOURS - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
The post titled "That is not truthful" was in response to the post above yours -- the one that DID say coding was getting offshored at a rapid rate. You wrote a response to it and someone else wrote a response to it.

Perhaps that is why you keep thinking everyone here attacks you . . . you are misreading the board format. You don't understand that not every post beneath yours is about yours.

They are only in response to you if they are INDENTED under you. This one is indented under your post, therefore it is in response to you.

Do you? - lally

[ In Reply To ..]
How can you be on the coding side, since you already said, repeatedly, that you never found a coding job?

Thank you for noticing that! - Would have said it myself (nm)

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Both sides - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Give it a rest...being on both sides meant that I have worked as MT, am a trained and credentialed coder, have applied for coding jobs, worked with coders in my work situation over the years and have seen how things work. After applying and interviewing for jobs for over a year, I have certainly seen enough to know the job market. The OP asked about employment options as a coder or an MT and I was trying to help. Whatever!

If you haven't actually worked in the field then, you cannot - have an official understanding.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Official understanding? - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Which part of "give it a rest" did you not understand?

Your "understanding" is vicarious - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
It is based on your interpretation of what you hear other people telling you.

Having completed a course and passed a certification exam is great, but that is as far as you went. You are working at a small, rural hospital which doesn't sound as though it has a full "menu" of HIM jobs, so to speak.

You think you know what coding is and what coders do because you have never been exposed to anything else. You can't see what coding is like at facilities that have upwards of 30 coders and an HIM staff nearing 100 with other HIM professionals with coding skills working in 10 or 20 non-HIM areas.

It is unfortunate that there are no jobs for coders where you are, but the situation is far different elsewhere. There ARE jobs elsewhere and they are increasing in number and variety, not diminishing.

Give it a rest, already! - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
My goodness, give it a rest means give it a rest. I'm not stupid, I do get it.

Understand this - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't work at a hospital at all. I am in a large ambulatory care setting and our providers indeed use "point and click" and assign their own codes. We have coders who are not in the HIM department but who work in billing who check charges for mistakes and assign modifiers; that is the extent of coding at my facility and I know that is not "real" coding or the coding that I wanted to do. It is a rural area, however, with one hospital who only hires people with experience. I am certified and I have tried for jobs until I became so discouraged and frustrated that I gave up on coding. It does not mean that there is anything wrong with me or that I have a personality flaw. I'm 59 and found my niche, hopefully until I can retire. I've worked in acute care hospitals as a medical records transcriptionist in the past and I was in direct contact with coders every day. I mentored while I was doing my program and I certainly know what coding is and that large departments exist. Apparently jobs are abundant for seasoned people but not necessarily for newbies. It is the same with many occupations including MT; I remember how green I was, even after going through a good program. You know, I really do not understand why every discussion gets turned around and directed at me. I honestly answered the OP and told her that she was going to have trouble working at home as a coder, or working as a coder at all if she did not take it seriously. I think those of you who turned the tables on me need to go back and read this thread in its entirety and stop approaching me as if I have something wrong with me because I chose not to code. Now, I am giving it a rest, but please feel free to come back and tell me how wrong and misinformed I am.

How this discussion got turned around and - directed at you

[ In Reply To ..]
I re-read this entire thread. It appears that it turned into a discussion about you after YOU redirected it toward yourself.

Someone posted "Run far, far away." You responded with "Opinion." You then responded to your own post with "I did not lie," saying others called you a liar.

In actual fact, no one accused you of anything. No one had responded to "Opinion" at all. At that point, the thread derailed as people responded to you instead of to the person who posted "Run far, far away."

This is not truthful - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Please stop telling these lies about coding.

It is a viable, worthwhile career field that can be a stepping stone to other jobs in HIM, which is a rapidly EXPANDING field. It is NOT being offshored "faster than lightning" or slower than molasses.

If you don't like coding, can't get accepted into a coding program, or flunked out of one . . . fine. There are many other jobs in other fields for you. That does not give you the right to mislead others with untruths.

dental school - hannibal lector

[ In Reply To ..]
The only encouragement I see so far is pretty lukewarm. I must add to that opinion about decent companies being difficult to find. There may be 2 or 3 out there, but consider there are thousands upon thousands of women with vast experience that would be considered before a new MT. Check out the job postings and look at how many people have read the posting. Even if 90% leave, there will always be others with experience competing for any possible position. Suction please.

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