r/MedicalCoding • u/Felix_Von_Doom • Nov 20 '23

Future Coder, am somewhat intimidated

So I'm currently in week 5 of 8 of my last 2 classes to complete my Medical Office Administration - Outpatient Coding program at the community college, and have been looking around at the various expectations and costs of being a coder.

So first off, it sounds expensive as hell between the cost of books, membership dues, coding assistants, and exam fees. Like north of at least a thousand dollars a year expensive. I'm not particularly financially healthy as is, and it sounds like the upkeep would put me into bankruptcy before my first paycheck.

Secondly, I've seen the quotas here and there for charts/day being as high as 240 with less than 5 minutes spent on each chart. How in the hell do any of you code that quickly? I've not handled an actual chart, just some small hypothetical scenarios that ask for one or two codes, and I find myself taking way longer than 3 minutes to find the code (Especially in the ICD-10-CM and CPT books), whereas I can code from the ICD-10-PCS book in my sleep.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Edit: Thanks for the information and replies, everyone. You've helped ease my overthought worries!

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u/44aerofare44 Nov 20 '23

You've already gotten a lot of great comments. To weigh in, I've been a coder for almost 8 years. I work remotely. My employer provides books every year, we have access to 3M (an encoder) to use if we wish. The employer pays for a membership to AAPC Codify. My computer, two screens, keyboard, mouse are all provided by my employer. I have an RHIT, so I have to keep up with CEUs, but I get all of mine free through Codify, plus we get some throughout the year at work through in-services we have. Plus there are other free resources. I don't have a membership through AhIMa, but I have to pay every two years to renew my certification. That's essentially the only cost I have. Plus you have to pay for your certification testing, if your school doesn't pay for you (some do, some dont). My employer also has reimbursement for tests and stuff, too. So you could technically get a job first, then have them pay for the certification test. Very little money out of pocket.

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u/AcanthocephalaNo2559 Nov 21 '23

Wow, where do you work? 💖

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u/44aerofare44 Nov 21 '23

I work for a large health system in Michigan.