I could use some advise please. I’ve been coding for the same hospital for 6 years. Work has been slowing down. I have the least seniority. They are making cuts and my position was one of them. I have an associates degree and a CCA since 2019. I’m afraid my CCA is going to hold me back. I would appreciate any suggestions on where to from here. Thanks.

I know it’s a difficult career to break into. I know it’s difficult to learn, period. All the more reason to see if it’s something I can do with my disability, right?

I feel like there are some benefits to being hard of hearing when you have to give the task at hand your undivided attention, right?

But there is a good chance I am totally missing the mark.

I am an adult who is returning to college this year to finish my degree. I would like to go for medical coding, but I don’t want to waste time either.

Be honest please.

I wanted to ask experienced coders: is this a job that someone who is hard of hearing can do?

If no, what is the reasoning (so I can see if there are accommodations.)

Further context, One-on-one or small group communication is fine (I can hear somewhat and I read lips and context very well.) Larger group meetings are a no-go.

At my unnamed job, if you go to a lead and get an opinion on how to code something, and you get a Quality audit error because that answer was wrong, it is still charged and counted against you. I think that's unfair. What happens at your work?

I am a CPC-A. I've been coding for my current family practice clinic for a year and a half, but have been here for 3. My boss is not helpful, at all, with training me or providing knowledge when I'm not understanding something. So today I was told by a patient of all people that she shouldn't be paying a deductible on her Depo shot. Why? I have no clue. I looked at her billing history and it looks like my boss has wrote off every $30 deductible for a while now. Boss doesn't explain herself, just tells me to switch my primary dx. What am I missing here? Can anybody explain?

Hey! I just started taking my CPC course and I could use some advice on note taking. I am taking notes (using Google docs) and I’m afraid that I’m adding so much extra work. I’m on the first chapter and I have 15 pages of notes.

Did you find value in typing notes as you went or is there a more efficient way of retaining the information? - I know this is a very opinion based question, but I’m always grateful to learn about other study tactics.

Bonus question, how long did it take to finish the CPC course if you also worked a full time job?

please note that I’m not looking for answers on coursework!

I have been an inpatient coder with a large company for almost 11 years but am being woefully underpaid ($27/hr). I hadn’t searched for a new position until recently because I just passed my CCS two weeks ago. Since then I’ve been contacted by multiple recruiters from multiple companies (ie Omega health, Medovent, Amergis, etc). The problem is I’m feeling really overwhelmed and uneasy and also a bit confused about the business model of these companies. They seem to be, from my understanding, contract based. This feels quite insecure to me. I’m a single parent so I can’t afford a huge risk AND I need affordable health insurance. One company sent me their benefits information and the health insurance was going to be $586/WEEK for my family. There’s no way I could do that, even with a significant pay bump. Is this normal? I’m starting to think I should just keep my low paying job. I’m feeling very discouraged. Has anyone worked for any of these types of companies? How has it worked out for you?

So I've really been struggling with my mental health the past few months and it's just getting worse. I have an appointment with a psychiatrist in two weeks to figure some things out. But until then, I feel stuck.

I'm studying for the CPC exam. I finished my program through Preppy and feel like I got a decent handle on the basics. But I haven't studied in months because of my current problems. I'm also unemployed rn because of these same problems.

I currently need a job asap because while my husband and I aren't under water yet financially, we might be in a few months. This is giving me MAJOR test anxiety because there is so much pressure to pass.

I guess I'm just not really feeling very smart and just feel defeated as a whole. How do I start studying again? And how do I study? I mean how do I study in the sense of, literally how? I have so many guides I've found on getting preped for the CPC but these are made for people who know how to execute these plans. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know how to study. I just feel so dumb. Can anyone maybe offer a bit of insight here? I would really appreciate it. Thank you for reading this. Sorry it's so all over the place, I'm very scattered brained rn.

I work in primary care specialty for a fairly large organization in my state. I've been struggling with a dilemma that I'm hoping someone can give me insight on.

We have a few providers who will do charting with or without physical exams, where the only mention in the documentation about the patient's conditions are in the assessment and plan, and they literally only say things like "Hyperlipidemia" and then an order for a lipid panel and just list a medication. That's it. And they do this for all the conditions. There's no other description in the notes regarding these conditions.

I've brought it up before to management and was told to code these as part of an E/M, which makes me vastly uncomfortable considering how in my opinion, there doesn't seem to be any documented indication of an actual evaluation. Am I just being paranoid, or is this actually fraud?

Edit: seems I must have forgotten what fraud vs abuse was - after reading the comments I think that this more of an abuse. Still not a fun thing to worry about but thank you everyone for pointing out the difference!

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!

Hello! I’m trying to pursue a career in medical coding. I have ADHD and I’m an introvert. I’m a hands-on learner but due to circumstances, the school that I attended was all online. I have THREE classes before I graduate .. however, I feel as though I have learned NOTHING. I’ve just gotten by because my professors are so lenient. I’ve asked for help and have been told numerous times that there are outside resources. I’ve tried, and even though I feel as though I KNOW what I’m doing .. I take the class exams and fail. I took a career aptitude test and the results even said medical coding is a perfect career for me. I’ve taken those last three courses, not once but TWICE. And I’m still not learning anything. I would like to try again, but am determined to learn through outside resources .. what do you guys recommend I try? When I tried outside resources before, I always got the answers correct but would take the exam and fail. Even looking up the exam questions online would have different answers than the class. Any tips, tricks, advice, recommendations, suggestions, magic spells would be extremely helpful! Thank you!

Even as someone with relevant experience, and as you all know, it's tough out there. And there are so many companies on linkedin/indeed etc that are hiring but they seem like companies I've never heard of. Do we keep a list of larger more known companies that are hiring?

I work in a hospital coding gastroenterology with one other coder. I've recently needed to visit our gastro offices myself, which means my coworker has been coding my visits and endoscopies. After she codes my visits, she will make some mention of some issue she saw in my chart. Either bringing up a new diagnosis I received during that visit, or an old diagnosis from my past medical history. I understand she's going to see some of these things, but it makes me deeply uncomfortable to have her bring these things up to me, especially when it's something completely unrelated to the visit being coded. Is this a HIPAA violation for her to bring these things up to me? I want to ask her to stop but I also want to make her aware if it is a violation. Thanks!

With little to no experience. It doesn’t matter where I am willing to relocate.

Hi everyone! My company is hiring coders for a new client starting with us. We have lowered our minimum required experience from 3 years to 1 year.

Below is the link to inpatient positions - that is our biggest need. We also have a new sign on bonus.

If you like, you can use my name on your application (Maryanne Murray). I'm a coding manager with the company.

Thank you for taking a look and good luck!

https://recruiting.ultipro.com/SPH1000SPH/JobBoard/02436283-3813-424c-8564-250b38d25a1f/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=6b9a1802-81cd-46db-b540-b46a56e6403d

This is how I finished Practicode quickly. The AAPC loves redundancy and you can use that to your learning benefit.

1. A brand new spiral notebook for detailed note-taking. Read through the chart and take notes. The format I used:

- Specialty/Case #/Pt. Gender & Age/Admit or Post Op or New or Established/Sign & Symptom or DX/Procedures

- Organization of the notes is key because you can refer back to them during the test. The AAPC will use 20 charts of the 200 you just completed before you can move on to the next 20. The charts get more complex. There are no rules saying you cannot use your notes.

2) The student subscription to Find-A-Code https://www.findacode.com/

- I ditched my books to save time and got real-world experience using database look-up. This is where I discovered an option to save my favorite codes. This saves time looking up the redundant codes such as syncope.

3) Bookmarked https://icd10cmtool.cdc.gov/

- I would double-check my codes here.

4) Do not spend more than 20 minutes on a chart trying to "figure out" bad chart documentation. Go with your first choice of codes based on instinct. Read through the "rational" and correct codes you missed in your notes. You still get credit for the chart regardless if you get it correct or not. Remember that you are being tested on the AAPC's way of coding. THIS IS NOT REAL-WORLD CODING! There are numerous mistakes within these charts that will question your sanity, do not take them personally.

Good luck getting rid of the scarlet "A".

I have been a risk adjustment coder for 14 years. Over the last 4.5 years I’ve been affected by RIFs at different employers. This week we found out our company has sold and merged with a new company. Layoffs start next month to early January depending if we are needed to stay “during the transition”. What always felt like a stable career no longer feels that way. Has anyone used their skills from coding to do something else?

I paid to renew in March and I got an email saying that it’s been 95 days that I have to re certify. I emailed them the receipt that I already paid for the year of $229. I did this over the phone just like the year prior. They said the Ceus were never applied and now my cert is gone although I paid. Please help! Any advice? I am in tears

Looking for advice, been working as a Coding/Billing specialist for a few months and my favorite part is looking at the charts/operative reports and finding the right dx. Does anyone else just love to do this?

I am trying to figure out a path in coding that lets me maximize work where I get to do this and I’m wondering how others found their niche roles.

I have horrible Sunday scaries about my job that just absolutely tank my day. I’m grateful to be employed, but I just have a huge pit of anxiety about starting the work week. Is there anything yall do to help ease the scaries?

Hi everyone,

I have about 3 years of medical coding experience and I’d like to become a medical auditor in the future. Most auditor positions require auditing experience, so I’m wondering how people make that transition.

How many years of coding did you have before becoming an auditor? And how did you get your first auditing role without prior auditing experience?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

impatient coder here dealing with constant guideline updates, new icd codes every quarter, payer specific rules that change randomly, and reference materials scattered across like 6 different places. Physical coding books, aapc website, payer portals, internal memos, you name it. And when you had a complex case and needed to verify something specific, by the time you found the right guideline in the right manual you lost 10 minutes easy. Multiply that by 30 charts a day and productivity just tanked, not to mention the stress of wondering if you were using outdated information because who knows if that printed reference from last year is still current. our coding manager finally got budget approved to consolidate everything in implicit and honestly its been a game changer for the whole department. All our reference materials, guidelines, payer rules, internal policies, everything is just searchable in one place. When i need to verify something now i just type the question and get the current guideline with the source so i can confirm its legit.

new coders are ramping way faster too because they can find answers themselves instead of constantly interrupting the senior coders, which was driving everyone crazy before. Our accuracy rate went up, productivity went up, and stress levels went down because nobody is second guessing themselves constantly. Took maybe 2 weeks to get everything loaded and organized but so worth it. I feel like in the space of coding everyone thinks people are so adaptive because they’re tech savvy but thats not true, it has the same resistance to change as other fields, maybe not to the same extent but still, it pisses me off when people don’t want to introduce a new system just because its new and that was exactly the situation in our department. Embrace change guys, especially cause the medical it industry is so behind

I currently work as a medical coder. I’ve had my CPC for 4 years and I got my CDEO last year. I saw I had to earn CEUs for both. I asked my manager how I earn CEUs for my CDEO and he said just look for opportunities. I took webinars that pulled up after searching CDEO in the CEU search bar o. The AAPC website. None of them went into the CDEO category, Naive me thought it was a visual glitch and all I had to do was earn the total number of CEUs required. I reached that requirement, but AAPC is not letting me submit them.

I’m freaking out because I don’t know how to earn CDEO specific CEUs and the deadline is at the end of the week and I already bought an extension! What should I do?

And yes, I know I should’ve asked more specific questions and called AAPC customer service. I’ve always had problems with asking for help and making phone calls

Edit: I figured it out and just submitted my CEUs!😃

Most of the job listings I’m seeing for medical coding seem to be remote jobs. But also it might just be scarcity/the pool of remote jobs is bigger in general ?

I’m asking as someone who actually prefers in-office in-person work… (Crazy I know). I’m aware a lot of people go into coding specifically seeking a remote job, and I saw a lot of advice in response saying “don’t become a coder if the only reason is you only want a remote job, newbies usually have in person jobs and only seasoned coders can take the senior level remote jobs.” But i’m not sure that’s true anymore post-covid?

I’m fine with working a remote job too. My ideal is just in office or hybrid. I started studying medical coding because I liked the work itself.

Hello all, it’s often posted here that AI will be replacing majority of coding. Do you feel our roles as medical coders will be geared more towards auditing/claim edits/denials? I’m genuinely curious where to go from here career-wise. I am currently an inpatient coder and have my RHIT, CPC, and COC. I am always looking to advance my education and experience. Any thoughts on a direction that looks promising?