I have worked in both and both have their pros and cons.
I am currently a dept trainer in a medium sized 3rd party billing company but started as one of their in-office production coders. We work with multiple physician groups and multiple facilities around our state. Previously I worked on-site at a large 5 specialty residency program based practice.
I found having access to the providers, nurses, and other ancillary a pro and a con because while it helped me get charts completed (sometimes), it was a two way street. They had total access to me! Medical students and PGY1 Residents ask a lot of questions
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I enjoyed it because I got to know the providers on a more one-on-one basis and I had a bit of freedom on my day to day tasks.
I do prefer working in a billing office though. I have been doing it for 10 yrs now. The thing you'll want to think about will be the size of office/dept you are looking at and the position you are being considered for. A larger company will traditionally have things structured so that most everything is streamlined for you. Account Exec's and liaisons have Provider and Group Point of Contact only (coders will only be coding), charts are returned by lists or through the EMR itself, turn around times are usually determined by billing Month End dates when charges need to be entered in the billing system or by the groups contract with the company. The nice part about it too is if you get stuck on a chart, there is another coder next to you or an email away to help you. My newly certified coders love this because they can pick the brains of those who have been coding for years. One thing to consider though is that as you progress you may be expected to meet daily quotas. Some coders do not like to be held to a timer. Another perk could be cross specialty coding training down the line if you choose a company that does not specialize in one or two coding services.
As you consider smaller billing companies, these types of things may not be as streamlined and those responsibilities above could potentially be added into a coders job
description.
I am sure at this point you already made your call and I wish you luck!