# looking to branch out in the HIM world



## vbaumwart (Nov 25, 2008)

I am currently a CPC with 6 years of hospital outpatient coding experience. I work from home for a pediatric facility in the Midwest. I feel I am becoming a bit bored with either my current employer or the type of work I am doing. I would love to further my career and branch out a bit to enable myself to learn more and of course, earn more pay. Would anyone have any suggestions for someone with my experience? Travel would not be an option or at least limited, but do say, auditors make higher wagers than coders or are there any other types of positions that a person could do remotely? I've also never experienced the payor side of the coding world and would love suggestions on that too. Really, I'm just looking for a place to start. 

I also have the opportunity to be hired with a different facility and am torn on whether or not it is a wise choice. There are pros and cons to both places but I'm wondering if just a different facility would give enough change and some different types of coding experience as I currently only have pediatric. Would this be looked at as 'job jumping' in a person's mind or is it good to have worked at different facilities to see how they do in fact vary?
Any advice anyone could give would much appreciated!!
Thank you!
Tori


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## FTessaBartels (Nov 25, 2008)

*job jumping*

You ask:  Would this be looked at as 'job jumping' 

I wouldn't consider it job jumping unless you'd been there less than a year, or had a history of changing employers every 2-3 years. 
Notice I said "changing *employers*" not changing jobs... In my first 5 years with my current employer I had 4 different titles (5 if you count the fact that one title added a "II" after a year).  What prospective employers look for is someone who will be around for a while, so that the investment in training a new hire pays off to the employer. 

And even if your resume contains this kind of "red flag" you can always offer an explanation in your cover letter. 

F Tessa Bartels, CPC, CPC-E/M


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## vbaumwart (Nov 25, 2008)

Thanks for your input - I appreciate your thoughts and advice.


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