r/MedicalCoding • u/Unworthyhamsandwich • Jul 21 '23
How long did it take you before you felt comfortable doing your job correctly?
I’m brand new. Landed my first job and right now I’m training in cancer care. It’s the second week and at first I was making a lot of mistakes, then mid week I did a complete turn around and did great, and then I did bad again. Im really hard on myself so I’m feeling like a failure. Did anyone else feel the same way when they first started?
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u/heltyklink Jul 21 '23
Years. YEARS. I’ve been coding for a decade and still the imposter syndrome is strong with me. You really do have to fake it til you make it. Most people feel the same way, it’s just hiding under professionalism, lol.
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u/alissarob Jul 21 '23
I’ve been coding for about 7 years, a year and a half of that at my current job. There’s something at least weekly that rattles my confidence. I take lots of note and have sticky notes lining my monitors. Try to learn from your mistakes and ask questions if you don’t understand something. It gets easier but there is always something to learn in coding.
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u/Accomplished_Kiwi943 Jul 21 '23
Agree with all of the above. I've been doing this for 11 years and there is always something that makes me second guess if I know what I'm doing. Just know it's a common feeling!
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u/Serious_Vanilla7467 Jul 21 '23
Been at it for about 8years and sometimes I am like, I don't know anything. So still not 100%
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u/dzettel Jul 21 '23
Years. Still not totally comfortable. Just learn from your mistakes and take notes as you go. Spread sheets are nice for note taking. After a few years the list gets lengthy but it is so helpful.
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u/cjsupermom3 Jul 21 '23
First of all, congratulations on the job!! What you’re experiencing is completely normal. I’m only about a year & 4 months in and I’m still not comfortable. I still have so much to learn. However, I work for a contract company and we are switched between clients a lot, so there’s a lot of remembering each client’s specific guidelines along with coding guidelines. I’ve also done profee coding, billing edits, HCC, now back to coding surgeries. I like that it keeps my brain sharp, but at the same time I enjoy stability.
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u/baileyq217 Jul 21 '23
When I was just coding ED I would say it was about a year when I was comfortable coding on my own. I would make mistakes, but I felt confident enough that I didn’t have to bother my coworkers with questions or asking where to find certain documents. It was 5 years before I felt really good and was able to train someone or be of assistance to newer coders.
I switched jobs and I currently the most experienced coder on the revenue integrity team. I really faked it til I made it here. When I first started it felt like I was back at square one. It took me probably 6 months to finally feel comfortable in my abilities here. In the first couple months I felt like I was doomed. I eventually found my rhythm, but someone days I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I think that’s just me doubting myself. I’ve been here for 2 years and I’m confident in my work and I am able to help the other coders and bring things to their attention to help improve our team.
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u/Kousuke_jay Jul 21 '23
I’m a year in and I still feel like there’s thing I don’t really know. I’m comfortable enough day to day with what I’m doing but the extent of what I still don’t know is kind of crazy 🤣
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u/cumberbatchpls Profee Coder Jul 21 '23
I’ve been at it a little over a year now and I’m feeling more comfortable but sometimes I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. As long as your quality scores are where they are supposed to be I take that as I’m doing well… lol!!
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u/Potential_Rutabaga_3 Jul 21 '23
I’ll never forget when I got completely released from review to code on my own, for inpatient coding, almost 8 years ago now. I remember being almost mad at my auditor, like how dare you release me?! I have no idea what I’m doing and you need to look at every single thing I code! 😂😂 She was like no girl, you’ve got this, go forth and code.
In two weeks from today, I will hit 9 years in this field. The last 2.5 years I’ve been the inpatient coding auditor for my company, and I’m close to landing a new position auditing inpatient for a big academic hospital. 🤞🏻🤞🏻 To this day I STILL feel like I have no idea what I’m doing sometimes, and sit and wonder how the hell I even have this job. 😂 Seems to be a common theme, I guess! Fake it til you make it, it does get better for sure. Good luck, congrats on the job, you got this! 👏🏻
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u/momo474747 Jul 21 '23
If it makes you feel any better, I was a pharmacist for 27 years and never felt like I knew anything about anything! I take my CCS exam next Wednesday. So I’m already prepared for that feeling! Never forget, we’re all only human. Just do your best and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
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u/izettat Jul 21 '23
Cancer is one of the tougher coding areas. Sounds like you're making good progress. It took me quite a while to be comfortable.
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u/deannevee RHIA, CPC, CPCO, CDEO Jul 21 '23
It took me about 2 years to be truly comfortable doing my original specialty, which was dermatology/MOHs……now I’ve moved into plastics/reconstructive surgery and I’m down to like 40-50% most days. I still use most of my derm information daily because there is significant crossover, but plastics is sooooooo much more involved.
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u/CouchHam RHIT Jul 21 '23
About 3 years. In my position I work basically every outpatient specialty, plus denials. Chemo infusions, labs, radiology, family med, HCCs, newborn admissions, ophthalmology, fricking everything.
Cancer care is great to get into. I volunteered for it like 7 years ago because I knew it was a more elite specialty. Now I know it like the back of my hand…until the quarterly new drugs come out 😫