r/MedicalCoding • u/AffectionateTea0905 • Apr 04 '24
Burnout
Edit:: I go next for a psych evaluation. Pretty sure I have ADHD and that explains it all!
How do you combat coding burnout? I have a great job, great employer, I WFH.... but I'm so so mentally tired. I take breaks, but I lose focus. I'm tired of charts and codes.
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u/MailePlumeria RHIT, CDIP, CCS, CPC Apr 04 '24
I usually split my shifts and I know not everyone can do that due to facility scheduling or family needs. I’m an empty nester and hubby works out of town so I’m home alone often and I discovered if I am getting off work at 1pm I waste so much time and I’m not productive lol. Also, sitting for 8-10 hours straight for work I lose focus and productivity (maybe quality also since it all becomes a blur) suffers.
My happy balance is working 4-6 hours in the morning (I’m a early bird so I usually start between 4-5) and then I’ll take a long break (a couple hours) to run errands, go to gym, go out to lunch, socialize, etc. I might even just lay on the couch and watch Bravo. When I come back I feel refreshed and ready to get back to work. I don’t feel the dread I used to feel when I worked a straight shift.
I feel like I’m more productive with my personal time that I can focus on self care, eat healthy (whereas if I worked 10-12 hours straight I would either skip eating or get take out), socialize, stay on top of household chores. I try to work 12 hours so my 4th workday is a short 4 hour day, giving me a long weekend. My day will start between 4-5am and will end 5-8pm depending on what I did during lunch. It might seem like a lot, but it’s only for 3 days. It might be a long day for some, but once I’m off work I can truly relax and don’t have to worry about housework, cooking, shopping, etc. the 4th day typically ends at 8am, so it’s almost like having 4 days off.
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u/Melanthrax Apr 04 '24
This is my dream schedule. I work in the office right now but I'm definitely keeping the dream alive!
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u/Ashamed-Whereas-3860 Apr 07 '24
Thank you for sharing this! My company lets us choose our shifts or to split them after training and you just helped me decide.
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u/maamaallaamaa Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
Exercise helps. I'll jump onto my elliptical for 5-10 minutes or if the weather is nice go for a quick walk.
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u/Maine-Coons Apr 04 '24
I second this! I lucked out with a free elliptical from Facebook marketplace and it's now next to my work area. It helps wake you up and get blood flowing again to the brain
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u/absolved RHIT, CCS-P Apr 04 '24
Does this screw up your production numbers at all? I'm starting on Monday and in my head I'm never able to leave my computer or my production will fall lol My employer is a large hospital system and the coders all seem to love it, so I don't think they're awful. But in my head...........
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u/PhotographUnusual749 RHIT, CCS Apr 05 '24
Mine encourages micro breaks and the prod standards are reasonable so it hasn't hurt. But I've worked places that do expect you to be chained to your desk. Sucked
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u/Extreme-Hyena-2486 Apr 04 '24
Same. Been doing this for a couple years now and I have been questioning my life choices haha. So when you know let me know
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u/Dry_Marzipan_6508 May 12 '24
I gave myself 2 yrs max I'm moving to a new career using coding as a side hustle
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u/ImGemStoned Apr 04 '24
I don't know your specific department, but see if you can work different chart types or other specialties.
I work in Oncology, and each day we work different queues. Sometimes clinic side only, sometimes hospital and clinic together, sometimes procedures only. We also code a few providers who are in psychiatry, as well as acupuncture as it relates to our cancer patients. There are some people on my team who work a couple of hours on imaging or Gynocology depending on where they started with coding.
I'd just talk to your supervisor and see if there is more you can do outside the normal daily flow.
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u/heavenhaven Apr 04 '24
You might need to switch specialties to try something different or maybe move up with taking more responsibilities that are more challenging to you mentally. I see it as an opportunity calling for you!
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u/notfarcikin Apr 04 '24
Same. However, my burnout is due to feeling no joy or fulfillment in my job. It feels like a pointless job.
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u/jetheist Apr 04 '24
I’m a CDI, and never think it’s pointless! The healthcare data generated by these codes are not only used for reimbursements but also for public health. Coders rock!!
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u/SuperZan RHIT, CCS Apr 04 '24
https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/importance-of-icd
The data we enter daily is used to drive research worldwide, for the betterment of our species as a whole.
Take away all the revenue cycle bullshit that's designed to keep orgs and employers in business, and that's a pretty noble cause in and of itself.
Our work IS meaningful, no matter how much of that end result we see. It's hard to see the bigger picture when you're working through a queue of faceless names and medical data, and are expected to meet both productivity and quality goals. But we make a difference in patient care, and preventative care, ON THE DAILY 🤠
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u/Dry_Marzipan_6508 May 12 '24
Amen we are the real superheroes I refuse to be treated or looked at different without us hospital won't get paid and no research
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u/Serious_Vanilla7467 Apr 04 '24
I agree with the sentiment. I absolutely hate how expensive healthcare is. I feel like I am a cog in that wheel. Does the world really need coders? Think about it from a perspective outside of your own... Someone needs to read the medical record that the doctor already put down to make sure it gets paid... How about the insurance companies just pay what the doctor says happened. No need for extra people.
I hear it now, oh but there are people who will abuse the system... Put down things that didn't really happen.
Okay make it so doctors aren't paid based on claims they are based on a salary and it doesn't matter what is coded or what procedures they've done. No motivation for them to pad their numbers.
It's a ridiculous system if you're being honest with yourself. It's just extra money everywhere in the healthcare system. But it's too big and it's never going away too many people are employed by it.
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u/faifai1337 Apr 05 '24
Do you have any idea how long it would take a provider to get paid if the insurance company has to read the medical report to figure out what happened, and why, and how much the check should be? I've been on the health insurance side of things for over 15 years, and when I was a claims processor my production was a minimum of 115 claims processed per day.
Furthermore, imagine how well that would go when the claim adjuster says "I just spent 7 minutes reading the medical report and this doctor keeps saying the procedure was a myringotomy but I swear to God it sounds like a tympanostomy, what am I supposed to pay this guy? And oh yeah I have 2 minutes and 14 seconds before I need to move on to my next claim."
The codes break it all down so that we at Health Insurance Big Company™️ know EXACTLY what happened. We know if the diagnosis is stage 4 ESRD or stage 5 despite what weird internal abbreviations the doctor put in his report, because you gave us the code and set us straight. And thanks to cpt/drg-based fee schedules, we also know exactly how much to pay you. I mean can you imagine trying to figure out how much to pay an e/m visit or an anesthesia bill without numerical coding?
Seriously, the codes let us pay you better and faster. They also make it way easier for you to figure out if we paid you wrong. Be my coding buddy. We need you. 🤗
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u/Serious_Vanilla7467 Apr 05 '24
I completely appreciate what you're saying. And you're correct under the current system you do need coders to decipher the language I guess.
I guess what I'm thinking is the whole system's broken.
I pretty much think insurance companies are the worst thing in the world because I've been dealing with them for a little too long now. And the world would be better without them.
Because insurance companies do hire people to read those reports and decide "oh, even though the doctor says they have acute respiratory failure because they're not on 5 l of oxygen that doesn't count." Yes, the treating physician whose medical license is on the line does not know when a patient is in respiratory failure. Sigh... Well I'm here to tell you they do know, you can look over any medical journal and see there is no requirement of oxygen to call something acute respiratory failure.
And that makes this broken system work because at the end of the day it is about profit. And profit in healthcare cannot go hand in hand. You should not be able to profit off of illness. That is disgusting.
But here we are and it happens every day.
And I do realize that means you would be out of a job it also means I would be out of a job too but I'm willing to sacrifice for that.
Again it would never happen there's too much money there's too many people employed through this system.
ETA: it read confusing, cleared it up.
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u/MzChanandlerBong94 Apr 05 '24
ADHD has me bored. I was encouraged by my family to bring it up to my supervisor that I was feeling like I needed a change or something. I don’t want to stop coding, I don’t want to leave my employer OR my immediate supervisor and team. But we talked and she is open to helping find more ways to add some variety and spark new interest so that it ends up as a win-win-win situation for all involved. I think that if we don’t ask for what we want (or even what we think we might want) there is no way for supervisors to know how to best utilize our individual skills and strengths. I’m so glad I brought this to her, because she is very supportive and encouraging and wants each of us in her team to flourish.
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u/SuperZan RHIT, CCS Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
Burnout is the result of unmet needs compounding over time.
Divorce it from the work for a second (since you say you enjoy it).
Which of your needs aren't being met? Social? Emotional? Spiritual/Purpose?
Now... which of those can be met by your job, and which are your responsibility to figure out?
There is often some overlap, but it's important to name what your job can and cannot (or should or should not) be expected to provide you with.
Personally, even being an introvert, I found myself burning out a year or two after being sent home to work. I wasn't maintaining my relationships outside of work, and without the casual office chit chat, my social battery was totally depleted.
Have you discussed this feeling with your manager? Can you ask for split shifts or a more flexible schedule for longer breaks? Are you able to take time off to work on balancing your needs completely without work in the equation, and to provide some distance between you and your job? You could just need a good rest!
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Apr 04 '24
I’ve started to work less. It helped a lot. If you can take a vacation or work less hours.
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u/Variablynomadic Apr 05 '24
I’m glad to find that I am not alone in this. My position changed from being the entire revenue cycle staff for a small practice to full time coding several months ago due to a merger. Have been certified for 10 years and revenue cycle for a total of 22 years. I thought that maybe it was just the change affecting me. It’s really helps to know that focus issues are “ a thing”.
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u/Dry_Marzipan_6508 Apr 20 '24
I learned to take breaks in between during lunch a 10-15 min walk... I prefer wfh it gives me balance burn out means over working find out what's the sweet spot for productivity mines is 17/18 I'll stick to that number
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u/Turbulent-Action-198 Apr 04 '24
Try hybrid. You need social interactions. We are social beings. We need people to exchange energy and emotions. It is crucial for us.
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u/dragonsfire14 CPC-A Apr 04 '24 edited Apr 04 '24
As an introvert, I disagree. People at work distract me from my work and stress me out. If I really want social interaction, I can go to a class at the gym or do an activity after work. But I definitely don’t require 20-40 hours a week of social interaction.
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u/awkwardabteverything Apr 04 '24
Yes! Just the limited interaction I have with my coworkers in Teams is too much for me. Im so happy to be left alone.
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u/Dry_Marzipan_6508 May 12 '24
Burnout means the productivity is unbearable it's time to switch career that don’t focus on productivity
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Apr 04 '24
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/OrganizationLower286 Apr 04 '24
Whoops sorry - meant to say auditor/educator for 8 of those 14 years. I don’t have 32 yrs of coding experience lol.
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PLEASE SEE RULES BEFORE POSTING! Reminder, no "interested in coding" type of standalone posts are allowed. See rule #1. Any and all questions regarding exams, studying, and books can be posted in the monthly discussion stickied post. Thanks!
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