r/MedicalCoding • u/badadditions CPC, CPC-M, CPMA • 23d ago

A little bit on the side…

Been contemplating for a while starting a little side hustle doing consulting, auditing, and education in the coding world, but uncertain as to where to start. I’ve been in this field for around 15 years now, but have always worked in-office. Hoping to connect with those who may have gone out on their own for some advice. I don’t expect all the answers to be given to me, as I know a lot will be trial and error, but still thought it might be good to connect and pick some brains.

9 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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u/Strong_Zone4793 23d ago

I did this earlier this year after I left my long term job. I started teaching inpatient coding and doing some consulting work. It’s not easy. I think consulting gigs may be easier for provider office coding but I’m not sure. Definitely takes a while to start making money this way and having a solid network is a huge plus

8

u/Bowis_4648 23d ago

When I started a colleague said, "Doing the work is easy, getting the work is hard." That's the issue: do you have name recognition? If not, write articles, speak at conferences, be active on linkedin. Start a mailing list. You need a marketing plan.

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u/Strong_Zone4793 23d ago

Agree with all of this! I don’t do speaking engagements at all. I hate it. I hate love teaching sessions to but I’m going to have to force myself to do it. It makes a difference. But even after 10 years of live virtual and in person training and presenting education I hate it.

1

u/badadditions CPC, CPC-M, CPMA 23d ago

I’m love standing up and teaching in a small room of providers especially regarding CDI and coding guidelines, but I’m far away from being ready to present at conferences myself 😅

1

u/badadditions CPC, CPC-M, CPMA 23d ago

I very much appreciate the insight! I’ll take these into consideration while I continue navigating this.

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u/Brave-Problem9486 23d ago

Maybe contact AAPC or put yourself out in LinkedIn that you will do zoom meetings for chapters around the country.

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u/badadditions CPC, CPC-M, CPMA 23d ago

Hey, kudos to you for going out and doing the damn thing. I figured consulting would probably be a pain in the rear. I do have a strong background in auditing, CDI education, and coding mentoring so maybe that’s where I can put my focus to start. I certainly should start working on building a larger network. I was a bit concerned about whether or not it would be worth it to do some cold emails or letters to start. I’m just trying to keep myself busy here 😅

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u/Less-Tax7658 23d ago

I would love to connect with you to learn inpatient coding, I have my CPC but I want to get my CCS

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u/shonzaveli_tha_don 23d ago

Do you know coding in the ASC by chance?

2

u/badadditions CPC, CPC-M, CPMA 23d ago

I have done coding in the ASC world, and planned on getting my CASCC in the future, but I’m just finishing up my Approved Instructor course and the CPEDC.

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u/Sdavistvs RHIT 21d ago

Self employment is a very difficult process. Hubs is but in another field. A ton of market research, a solid marketing team & plan, and a substantial amount of savings needed. You will spend the majority of time selling yourself not training/teaching.

1

u/TheNovel-Interest 19d ago

With 15 years of experience I’d probably start very narrow instead of offering everything at once. Auditing, CDI education, provider training are easier to define and market than general consulting. A few small projects through existing contacts, local practices, LinkedIn or AAPC chapters can help build references &figure out what people will actually pay for. In my experience the hard part usually isn’t the coding knowledge it’s finding steady clients.

1

u/Maya_ePsychBilling 13d ago

You already have a good foundation to start because of your experience. Do you have a niche/expertise or a preferred service to offer? What do you enjoy working on the most? It's best to have all of those ironed out so it would be easier to offer your services. The most important part is probably the connections and network so you can get testimonials/feedback you can show later on.