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New directions - Sandra

Posted: Jul 09, 2012

Just wondering if there is anyone here who has decided to go into either physician billing or patient advocacy. I'm looking for a new direction. Mostly interested in advocacy but not sure how to go about it as a private consultant. I'm being encouraged to go into billing but am not sure that's my strong suit. Input welcome!

I advise against medical billing - Des

[ In Reply To ..]
Obamacare is going to send newly created medical billing jobs to India, and the current medical billing jobs are like the current MT jobs... on their way to India.

Any job that can be done on a computer, especially in the medical field, has a high likelihood of being offshored.

REFER TO THE MTSTARS POST/THREAD BELOW (it's found on the Main Board):

http://forum.mtstars.com/410700.html

Obama's healthcare will unlock new deals worth $22 BILLION for outsourcing industry in India. - Article from July 5, 2012
Posted: Jul 6th, 2012 - 9:42 am In Reply to: Seriously!? Ever heard of Donald "Skip" Conover? - Des

Boom. There you go MTs. Check out this article from yesterday.

BPO = business process outsourcing (industry)

http://www.bpoindia.org/news/obamas-new-healthcare-reforms-to-unlock-22-billion-bpo-deals/

Who is recommending billing? - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
This response is not politically motivated.

What are you calling physician billing and who is recommending it? If you mean physician front-office work involving preparing bills for insurance purposes and what goes along with that, the main problem is that there are loads of scams related to this.

If you are being encouraged by someone in billing who will train you and provide a job, then you have nothing to lose. Go for it and get te experience while you look for something further to do. This is actually a possible route into coding.

If you are being encouraged by a job counselor, a school, someone selling a billing software program, someone who gives "you can make money" seminars, or your husband who has no idea what this is, or your neighbor who knows someone who knows someone, then you need to run in the other direction. There are successful billing companies, but you are not going to become one that way. There is no software, no list of doctors dying for your services, etc.

If you mean coding, that is another story entirely. That is a worthwhile field, but I am beginning to see that it requires more effort than most MTs are willing to make. It is a continuous-education sort of thing that requires credentialing and an interest in keeping up with industry changes. A lot of MTs seem daunted by this and by the fact that it is not something easily done at home until you have experience.

Patient advocacy can be several things. Can you find a college teaching it? A legitimate professional organization? Some kind of credentials? There are advocates who assist patients with medical bills. They may be paid on a percentage basis of what they save the patient. If that is what you mean, the route to that is through coding. It involves reviewing records and finding billing errors, then getting hospitals and doctors to correct them. If whomever is encouraging you cannot explain what this is and how to go about it, I would not listen to them. If it is another "seminar opportunity" definitely not.

Another type of patient advocate represents patient rights. See if you can find some locally to ask for advice. Maybe you can find some by googling. My facility has them, but it requires no training. It is just something people work their way into.

Wow! You just couldn't help yourself, could you. - Des

[ In Reply To ..]
QUOTE FROM YOUR POST:
"If you mean coding, that is another story entirely. That is a worthwhile field, but I am beginning to see that it requires more effort than most MTs are willing to make."

True MT professionals study and learn the anatomy and can actually comprehend what our dictator's are saying, even when they're not actually saying it. The more we do, the better we can interpret what's being dictated.

MT is an experienced-based field, but that can be said for coding, too. We, too, have to stay updated on the new procedures, new terms, new drugs, new rules, on top of learning new dictators, platforms, etc.

Sure, there are wannabes out there, but I've worked in medical records (not just MT) for years, in clinics and in hospitals, and I've personally witnessed extreme laziness on the part of the hospital coders. If they didn't immediately know the code for gestational hypertension, they'll just use the code for hypertension. Insurance will pay for both dxs, so who cares. Right?!

The poor quality transcription you might be seeing is from the wannabes and the offshoring. A report transcribed by a true professional MT is obvious.

Besides, you're just generalizing the MT profession in an attempt to start a fight. Keep your hostile, hateful comments to yourself. We MTs have enough to deal with right now.

Sandra, when I looked at "patient advocacy" - what that might mean was all over the

[ In Reply To ..]
place--from upper end with medical reviews to assess care (a job for retired clinicians) and representing clients to insurance companies, to lower end like social services clerical, civil service clerical or working as a hospital hack trying to keep patients from getting an attorney. I didn't actually see a whole lot of job listings, which isn't surprising. Nice idea, but who's paying? Anyone?

Who hires independent advocates? Not the insurance companies, for sure. Patients, of course, a few perhaps, looking for advocates with strong reputations (good PR, hiring one of those companies to flood Google with fake entries, might do at first), but most people needing this help are being broken by medical bills already. Although many mortgage and sell their houses to get money, little independent consultants might well end up scrabbling along with representatives of big medical corporations for their share before it's all eaten up.

Hospitals have advocates trotting the halls finding out why Mr. Jones is threatening to sue and calming him down, and it shouldn't take more than a 2-year degree or year on the job to work into that.

Some clinics, such as oncology, often have to fight insurance companies to get approval for treatment, but the prospect of a $100,000 billing allows them to use attorneys and high skill advocates to storm those walls. That'd be a direction to go, though, with profit and patient care pulling the same direction, but would take time and education to get into. Perhaps start as a clerical assistant?

I feel there must be some good source I missed. Some line in the law that covered advocate services under Medicare, for instance, would be terrific. :)

There's also the issue of what changes healthcare reform will bring, but as long as insurance companies can increase profits by limiting access to care, patients will no doubt be in need of very knowledgeable and tough advocates, the real thing, to fight for their lives.

Medical billing is basically a data entry position, of course, with the typical low pay, but is quick to learn and usually offers at least some jobs close by. If you're drawn to something like patient advocacy, though, I doubt you're going to find satisfaction with this.

Have you thought of cancer registrar, BTW, if there are jobs in your area? No jobs here in this rural area, but I'd like it. Registrars gather clinical information and thus get to ride with the guys in the white hats (not a small issue for me). They're paid a decent salary and gather information from many sources, including calling patients to follow up and see how they're doing down the road, and are in a good position to change as needed as IT and the EHR continue to develop. This is several hops above medical billing as a job, is light years more interesting, and can even be a career instead of just a job, but it doesn't require a degree either, just a handful of somewhat more challenging classes and, of course, a bit more ability.

New Directions - Sandra

[ In Reply To ..]
Lots of good ideas and brainstorming. Thanks. I live in a small town, no large hospital nearby. I have 40 years in the field of transcription, now wanting to make the shift. I'm really good at getting money out of insurance companies, finding resources, negotiating bills, networking, organizing community assistance, and just generally helping the underdog. Just wish I could make it work for me to do what I love. Most of the hospital settings with patient advocates require degrees in Social Work. Nonprofits don't pay, so my next thought was free-lancing. Just don't know how to set it up...

Hmmm, didn't know I was talking to someone with a - bent for it. That matters big. I actually suspect,

[ In Reply To ..]
with the web allowing clients to find you, there might be nice fat niche for a reasonably priced consultant who can bring order and control, and direction, to the chaos that so often overwhelms the stunned victims of sudden illness. I'd think professional liability insurance would be a must, though, even if your services were carefully tailored to avoid anything smacking of medical advice.

Perhaps develop a specialty around the nearest regional medical center and its associated providers? Start info files on all of them, prices, services, quality, routine and special deals, who to talk with, who to avoid like the plague? :)

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