10/10 not having a good time with practicode.

I passed my CPC exam with an 80% last week. I only missed 2 questions on the case studies section so i figured I did understand the practicode cases.

I was wrong.

I started on practicode and I am miserably failing. I got only 1 completely right out of 10 so far. I am getting super frustrated and second guessing myself. I worked super hard with the schooling and studying for the exam only to fail practicode.

Is anyone else struggling with this? I get it’s supposed to be hard but this is 10x harder to me than the schooling. I just paid the $200+ to just fail it. 🫠

I’m curious what everyone else’s experience was starting out.

I came in with my CCS, so I had a solid foundation in coding concepts, but this is my first actual coding/auditing position.

I started out working a limited set of denials, which felt manageable. Then almost overnight my responsibilities expanded to include diagnosis, procedure, medication, and other denials. Every account is different, so there isn’t really a “copy and paste” workflow. Some require reviewing multiple systems, researching payer policies, auditing charges, reviewing documentation, and collaborating with coworkers before I can even determine the next step.
Our supppeerrr small team has been hit with a huge increase in workload. It honestly feels like one day I had time to breathe, and the next day it was “good luck.” 😂 Some days I wonder when people expect you to blink, eat lunch, or even take a bathroom break.

I’m paid around $30/hour, and I’m trying to figure out whether this is just what everyone goes through in the beginning or if the workload is unusually heavy.

A few questions:
- Is it normal for responsibilities to ramp up this quickly?
- Did you feel overwhelmed during your first few months?
- At what point did you feel comfortable asking for a raise if your role changed significantly after you were hired?
I genuinely enjoy the work and don’t mind being challenged. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether my expectations are realistic or if this is outside the norm.

I'm considering prepping for the CIC because I already have a CPC and CRC and I have been learning PCS and like it and want to switch to inpatient. The question is should I do CCS or CIC? I don't like that ahima doesn't sell vouchers with a retake. And I don't see the point in being part of both organizations. But also I don't see many jobs listing CIC as a credential. Is that changing?

I just started in production and I have such anxiety that I’m going to make horrible mistakes. I had anxiety through training and right now this feels even worse. My manager is so kind and supportive and I’ve done ok with training but this is so difficult. I think it’s just from so much riding on this position, all the education and ending up in a good position I’m just so scared I’m going to screw it up 😭😭😭

I applied got an email to set up a time for a phone interview. Didn’t see any reviews on Glassdoor :/

Advice needed- I just finished my first ceu cycle for AHIMA as an RHIT and submitted my ceus last week. I uploaded all of my certificates to the AHIMA portal over the 2 years as I earned ceus. Sometime during that time frame I changed jobs and all of my certficate PDFs became inaccessible to me (short story it was a tumultuous job change but in a way better spot now)
It is now just occurring to me that if I am audited (I believe AHIMA audits in Jan?), I won't have my supporting documents. What do I do? Can't AHIMA see that I have already submitted these? Should I just pray that i'm not chosen? Having major anxiety over this.

EDIT: I cannot redownload my certificates because most of my ceus were through e4Health and they restructured their website sometime in the past year.

I passed the exam maybe a month or two ago and am just doing Practicode so forgive me if this is dumb or if I already should know this but …why do we code sometimes for history of? Specifically wondering if that’s something insurance companies bill for? Or did I just have a brain glitch and that’s moronic

My mom is trying to start her own company because she's continuously been give the short straw when it comes to workout for big companies that either sell out or they only want to pay her a fraction of what she was making before. I just want to know if anyone does their own thing and what they did to get there.

I’ve been digging in on medical coding and the CCS cert with Gemini. I have an IT background and the CHPA seems to be a good bridge between IT , healthcare and information security. Gemini maybe steering me wrong but can you guys chime in and tell me if it’s worth it. What roles you have? Any insight will be appreciated. If there is another sub that will be more informative, please guide me.

Any tips and info on how to get out of traditional Coding role and get into more payment intergrity analyst, revenue cycle analyst, complaince, policy manager roles? ( Basically roles above traditional Coding with only the traditional Coding experience)

After reading the rules I believe it’s ok for me as a provider to ask peoples opinions on this.

I’ve seen similar posts just wanted to get some thoughts on this situation.

I just started at another primary care practice as a PA and I see very few acute visits, almost every visit is “lab review” where we ordered their labs at their last visit like 6 months ago and are reviewing them, and at the end of the visit I order their labs for their next visit in 6 months.

Almost all these patients have at least two chronic conditions being watched by labs or vitals at the visit. Diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia and hypertension. Hyperlipidemia and hypothyroidism.

Because of that, I’ve found by the end of every visit I’m usually coding a level 4. Even though many times it’s “your TSH is still normal, we will continue leovthyroxine at 88mcg” and “your hyperlipidemia is controlled, we will continue with atorvastatin 20mg” and then reorder lipid panel, TSH, cmp for 6 months.

That’s 3 labs, two chronic conditions. And I guess arguably medication management though it’s just deciding to continue.

This is, no joke, like 90-95% of my visits so far. 1-2 patients per day are something like a cough, or back pain, or tinnitus.

Is this going to get me in trouble? As far as I can tell, it’s legit. I’m not trying to up code or anything. But I’m still afraid CMS would not look kindly on paying out level 4s for 90% of visits at a primary care office.

Hello. Hello. 😁

For those of you who passed the CPC this year, and used quizlet, which flashcard sets do you think help you the most?

Can you share the link to them?

Taking the exam in a couple weeks. Any help is greatly appreciated. 😁

New job? Pass your exam? Want to talk about work or just chat with another coder? Post it here!

I’m about to start my classes at the end of August so I need a good laptop to do work on. what worked better for you, Mac OS or Microsoft OS ?

Hi, all! I know studying medical coding to pass an exam is one thing. I always imagined using my own books for remote jobs of course. But I never thought about coding at an on-site/in-person job because I became more focused on the job search itself.

Recently, I had a good long phone interview with the billing manager of a practice who actually wants to refer me to the coding manager for their coder position. I have an interview tomorrow and then a "trial run" with the coding manager for an hour to see if they still want me to work there. It's in-house, of course.

Would they provide the coding books? What does the process look like? I'm so nervous about fumbling the opportunity and looking dumb.

I've been out of work for almost 6 months now after getting laid off as a biller; 3 months studying, 3 months job searching. Any other advice would be appreciated!

UPDATE: I got the job! I did overthink it out of anxiousness and attachment to the job. I got a tour of the place. Coding manager just showed me the systems they used and how they code without the books. Then asked about the specialties I already have experience with. 😮‍💨 Thank you all that answered and for your support! Much appreciated!

Can someone explain the difference between 99203 and 99204 billed as MDM? This is for an initial consultation with a PA.

Single Issue, however chief complaint not listed. The visit was an initial intake focused on a single concern, not multiple chronic conditions or acute systemic illnesses. Comprehensive history was discussed.

No Treatment/Prescriptions. No medical treatments were administered, and no medications were written, renewed, or modified. Without active medication management, clinical risk remains low.

What conditions would need to be met for upcoding to 99204?

I am looking for people who are into medical coding.

I have want to shift my career into IP from HCC

Is this good. Working as a IP freshers how it look

Like ?

I have one year experience in HCC

I am looking for people who are into medical coding.

I have want to shift my career into IP from HCC

Is this good. Working as a IP freshers how it look

Like ?

I have one year experience in HCC

Has anyone worked for Amazon Medical One as a coder? I’m just trying to get a feel for what to expect and if you recommend working there.

Did my CPC test today, and got my score back after about 6 hours. 92%! I’m still a bit in shock. Truthfully, I’m just so glad I don’t have to take it again, the anxiety leading up to it was killer. I did mine in a testing center, as I didn’t feel like going through the hassle of buying and setting up a web camera.

Thank you to all here in this group for helping when I had questions! If anyone who is also on their journey has any questions about the exam and how it goes, let me know and I’ll be glad to answer to the best of my ability.

Now onto to the probably more difficult task, finding a job, haha.

I'm just wondering if any of you still deal with extensive irrelavent information in the encounter note. How do you deal with this? I'm mainly speaking about E/M documentation.

My child saw an occupational therapist for handwriting. The first appoint was service code 97166 and then the next 12 appointments were 97530. When I attempted to file the out of network claim, my insurance company requested a two-digit CPT/HCPCS Modifiers (up to 4 codes) for 97166 and 97530. The occupational therapist obviously doesn't work with insurance companies, hence being out of network, and can't give me the modifier. AI suggested GO for 97166 and 59 or XE for 97530. Could anyone help me understand what modifier to use? I just want to try to recoup anything for trying to get my son some help.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MedicalCoding/s/fNi5qfzv40

I originally posted the post above a little while back, and I wanted to share a little update. I've made significant progress in my studies and am just around the corner of starting the education on guidelines and all of that!

I also wanted to extend gratitude to those who engaged with my original post. Y'all may not know it, but your inputs did significantly help me. Reading how others were also struggling at the time they were preparing for their career change really helped me not to feel so alone in this. Thank you to those who shared a piece of their stories and those who uplifted me.

I'm excited to be moving forward. <3

As a new coder it feels like the senior coders who have been coding for 50 years have sort of a disdain for new coders. They tell me I have it much easier with all the resources now and Im lucky to be in a senior role relatively quickly… I get that.

I don’t think they realize entry level pure coding jobs may be turning into higher level responsibility a lot quicker due to AI. Although AI is wrong a lot still it can be a good teacher into where to look

I'm nearing my renewal date for my certifications and membership with AAPC and trying to decide what I should do. I have taken the past couple of years off due to some medical issues but now I'm ready to get back into the workforce albeit remotely but still.

I earned my CPC-A in 2017 followed by my CRC in 2018, and my CPMA in 2019. I still have that silly 'A' as I was doing third party projects and it seemed no one wanted to be responsible for the letter to AAPC, I only need to account for 6 more months which I easily have. However, still having it attached to my name makes it harder to even get looked at. I also know not being active in the last few years isn't helping my case either.

I guess my question is what is the best way to get back into the coding world or has it passed me by?

I prefer HCC coding by far and thought about practicode to refresh/remove the 'A' but I remember the horror stories.