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MT vs Med Assistant vs Med Records Tech - anyone

Posted: May 31, 2012

I have heard and read of MTs moving out of this field into coding. But has anyone transitioned out of MT to med assisting or a medical records technician? Or does anyone know someone who did? I've been trying to research information and was wondering if it is better career and/or better salary that does not require too much schooling?

I have an AA degree in medical assisting - cindy

[ In Reply To ..]
You need to find out what position you would be applying for as far as medical assistant, as a medical assistant is any position from answering phones to assisting in minor surgery. When I went to college back in the early 80s and got my AA degrees, it was the up and coming field. Now I feel that my degree is as about useful as a piece of toilet paper. I have worked all positions. My favor is clinical. I have really awesome skills at drawing blood and injections, as well as bandaging. Clinical is definitely my true love, but does not pay well. The top of the pay scale is only $15/hour. I definitely make more doing transcription right now. I really regret that I did not get my degree as an RN instead of a medical assistant but back in the 80s we were told that was the wave of the future and you needed a degree, which I got and needed certification, which I got and now doctors hire any old schmuck off of the street and just train them. It is scary to think that anyone is handed a needle and told to injection you or draw your blood, etc. Medical records, you need even less training in and it is really bottom of the barrel as far as pay in my area. It all depends on what you want to do. I have done coding, insurance, front desk, back desk, clinical MA, surgery scheduling, medical records, transcription, etc. Like it said it all depends on where your interest lies, as they are all medical assistant positions. I really wished I had just gone to medical school and not gotten married. If only I had listened to my parents, but no I was stubborn and now can see, stupid too. Good luck to you.

I Know Someone Who... - Went for R.N. Read on

[ In Reply To ..]
She said that what they asked her to do was what the RNs were doing, only she was getting half the pay. It was a way for the docs to get cheap labor.

If you're going for MA, and you can afford the ride, get your RN. Even an LPN is underpaid, same deal.

About the coding that MAs do - RHIA

[ In Reply To ..]
I just want to point out that the "coding" and "medical records" that MAs do is a limited portion of the fields. It is only that small area that would apply to working in a doctor's office, and that area is very restricted.

MAs are trained as jack-of-all-trades so that they can handle the daily activities in a doctor's office. However impressive and far-reaching life in a doctor's office might seem -- and it will seem very impressive to someone who has not seen it in comparison to, say, a tertiary care instituion affiliated with a medical college -- it is very basic work.

MA training covers only the limited things done in a doctor's office, not the ENTIRE range of coding, medical records, or nursing. But, as with anything else, if you do not know what else there is to know, that limited subset of activities can seem to be everything.

Neither that training nor working in all those areas qualifies you to BE a coder or an RN.

The coding done in doctor's offices is only outpatient coding. It is also more a matter of copying codes from a charge ticket onto a bill than it is "coding" anything. It is a smattering of what is contained in a coding course. The doctor, at some point in conjunction with a professional coder (perhaps in a course the doctor took or as consultant auditor), pretty much decides what to code and is responsible for it. This is absolutely NOT what professional, certified coders do in their jobs. It does not require a knowledge of any other kinds of coding, of coding for surgical procedures or other specialties, of any other code sets or circumstances, of inpatient coding, or of any of the theory behind it.

The MA also does only those medical recod activities that pertain to offices, which are again directed and decided by the doctor. Filing records on a shelf and pasting notes in them is something an office secretary can do with minimal training. It does not involve anything more extensive or a knowledge of the theory behind it.

Coding training takes a year or so, followed by specialized certification exams. Medical record technician requires 2 full-time college years in order to sit for the qualification exam, possibly more than 64 credit hours. Medical record administration requires 4 full-time college years for a bachelor's degree and can involve considerable extra specialty training and additional work at the graduate level for a master's degree.

Medical assisting programs do not cover all that material. They cannot because they do not have time. They cover only a bare minimum of material.

And you cannot claim that the longer programs just dragged things out. Coders do not just take a year or more because they are too stupid to learn in the couple of weeks devoted to coding in an MA program. RHIAs do not take 4 or more years because their intellectual capacity required their professors to beat paper records to death for that entire time.

MA programs just don't cover all that much. That is why an MA is not considered to be qualified for legitimate coding jobs, especially in hospitals, or for any of the jobs in health information that require specialized credentials . . . RHIT, RHIA, CPC, CCS, CHPS, CHDA, etc.

That is also why those jobs tend to pay more. Sometimes MUCH more.

Really? - Happy camper

[ In Reply To ..]
Where I work, several MAs have obtained their CPC certification and do specialty coding (neurosurgery, for example) for the physicians they work for in addition to their other duties, I don't know how much they get paid. Trust me, they are professionals. As far as I know, they have not taken formal coding training but successfully passed the exam.

Yes, really! - RHIA

[ In Reply To ..]
I do not know where you work or what your coworkers do or what they learned or how they learned it. However, you appear to be talking about OFFICE coding. And you are clearly talking about people who did SOMETHING MORE than just an MA program. They may have done it on their own, possibly after taking the test several times, but they somehow learned enough for the CPC. On the job, in a class, from a book, whatever. It isn't that hard to do.

Nothing I said implied that an MA would never be able to get a coding certification. Nothing I said
implied that a formal program was required to get a coding certification.

I just said that completion of an MA program
does not include all of coding, all of the RHIT, all of the RHIA, all of the RN, or all of anything else. It should not be confused with those fields.

This is what I said: An MA program does not provide the training or the knowledge required for qualification as EVERYTHING.

You can begin there and move on from there, but don't think you are an expert at everything or that MA training will allow you to work in all of those fields.

Getting a decent job as an MA is a regional thing. Here there are very few jobs for them that pay much. There is no credentialing requirement for them, so it is cheaper for doctors to hire people off the street.

There is nothing particularly remarkable about neurology or neurosurgical office coding, either.

I have both...sm - Tiny

[ In Reply To ..]
I got my MT training while going to school to be a medical assistant. There are tons of jobs at the hospital where I work for medical assistants, just doesn't pay a whole lot. I make more in the transcription department. If I were to switch careers at this point I would either go into nursing or go into another hands-on patient care field. I considered LPN, but people keep telling me not to do it because no one is hiring them anymore.

RN vs LPN - Alice

[ In Reply To ..]
Where I live, an RN cannot get a job in a doctor's office because they only hire LPNs and medical assistants. I was an RN and wanted to work in a doctor's office rather than a hospital, nursing home, or visiting nurse with many patients, but I was out of luck. I even tried to get an LPN license, but was told that I'd have to take an LPN course, despite already being an RN!!

Salary informationfor medical records - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Nobody wants to spend a lot of time in school, but there is a relationship between education and salary.

There are two salary surveys that will help you. One is on the AAPC website and the other on AHIMA's. You can google for the AHIMA and find AAPC's using the links on their pages. Those will show you the salaries for credentialed and noncredentialed coders and for various credentials and jobs in HIM.

You have to be careful when you say medical record technician. That job title can apply to medical records positions that do not require any specialized training, like file clerk or photocopying, for which pay is low. Do not assume that the pay those workers receive is the pay a coder or RHIT makes.

If you use MRT to mean a degreed individual i.e., an AA, the salary may be low because they are usually stuck in low positions until they get the RHIT. Once they have that, salaries go up as the RHIT moves into specialized jobs.

Your best bet for both salary and ease of entry is coding. That can be achieved without a college program. That is not saying knowledge is not required because it requires a considerable amount of knowledge, intelligence, and skill. It is just possible for a motivated individual to do it without jumping through the college hoops and at comparatively low cost. It definitely avoids college tuition, particularly the ludicrous tuition debt from a for-profit college. That is why many MTs have moved into it. The salaries can be equal to or better than what you can get from a college program taking far longer.

Be careful about MA programs. A lot are taught at for-profit diploma mills or what are called "career colleges." They appear very attractive with all their loans, but leave you with horrible debt that you cannot repay even IF you get a job, and getting a job might not be something you should expect no matter what their sales people tell you.

Be careful about any program taught at career or for-profit colleges. That includes medical record technician and especially "billing and coding." Even 10K would be too much debt for those and many leave students with $30,000 or more. It is impossible to pay that back. It is also impossible to get credentialed or find a job with what they teach as "billing and coding."

You got that right - MT/RHIT

[ In Reply To ..]
"If you use MRT to mean a degreed individual i.e., an AA, the salary may be low because they are usually stuck in low positions until they get the RHIT. Once they have that, salaries go up as the RHIT moves into specialized jobs."

As a transitioning MT that just graduated with an AS in HIT, I am not even going to LOOK for a job until I get my RHIT. Having spent an internship in a hospital medical record dept. I saw first hand what credentials are worth and how they are looked upon by management.

Advice for you - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Take the exam right away whether you think you are ready or not. Do not delay because of the expense and fear of failing.

When you take it, do not worry about passing. That pressure is enough to cause you to do worse Just take it *to see what is on it.* If it helps, think of it as a very crafty ploy . . .not cheating, but very smart reconnaisance.

If you pass by even 1 point, you still pass and nobody will know your score anyway.

If you do not pass, you will know what is on the exam and what you need to review. That is worth the cost of taking it. It is better than more review books and review courses.

thanks! - cm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'll be taking it @ September. I just finished a F/T semester so I plan to study for a couple months. I'm finishing up a coding cert. program too and will be taking that test immediately upon finishing next semester. I've heard the CCS is harder than the RHIT.

Suggestion for that - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, the CCS will be considerably more difficult than the RHIT. For coding, I strongly recommend that you take the CPC first. That one comes with a free retake if you fail it the first time. It will give you experience taking a coding test, as well as a credential you can use even if you do not pass the CCS.

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