Thank you for that information Monica, I was quite concerned about that. To be honest I don't even remember reading the non-compete terms of the contract, but I am glad Icode4U bought it up. I was recently terminated from MedAssurant because they claim that I did not meet their accuracy expectations. I was still in the preceptor program and they tell you " oh it's ok the preceptor program is where you are able to make your mistakes, you are still learning, this is new to you, don't worry about it," that is not true. Any errors that you make from the time you review 1 chart is held against you.
My preceptor only communicated my error rate with me twice. The first time was my first week out of CARA training and my preceptor told me, "oh don't worry about it, it's ok, this is new to you, everyone who does this for the first time makes errors and actually your error rate is lower than all of the new people that were assigned to me." After that phone call my error rate went down to 0% and I was advanced to over-reads. The second time I was made aware of my error rate was my first week doing over-reads. Again, she stated, "oh don't worry about it, over-reads are new to you everybody makes these mistakes, you're ok, but I have to put you on a 2 week action plan."
After the action plan, I never heard anything else from her regarding my error rate. That is until about 3 weeks later, I received a phone call from my lead coder stating that the company did not need me anymore due to me not meeting their accuracy requirements. I explained to her that I had no idea my error rate was above 5% after the action plan because my preceptor never told me and I was under the assumption that I was doing everything right. How am I supposed to know my error rate if it is not communicated to me? Then to top things off a majority of my errors came from things that were taught in training. Their guidelines are forever changing, they tell you to do things one way and then when you do it that way it's wrong and you get an error.
My second week of employment with MedAssurant I was coding the required 60 charts per day (sometimes I coded more) which totaled to 300 charts per week. My preceptor claimed that she was impressed by this. When I asked my preceptor and lead coder how I could possibly have an error rate of 16% when I code 300 charts per week, I was told that they only check 25 of the 300 charts that I code every week. The only time I heard from my preceptor is when I called her or when I emailed her (besides the times she called me about my error rates). That's why I was totally shocked when I received that phone call. After speaking with my lead coder she told me to email her the information about my error rate not being communicated to me and she will see what happens, that was on a Friday. Well on Monday my preceptor called me asking me what was going on because they were all over her about not telling me my error rate, she had me on speakerphone so I know that others were in the office. I told her "no you did not tell me my error rate after the action plan, I never heard anything from you unless I emailed you with a question." She insisted that she told me my error rate and I insisted that she didn't.
Well after the phone call she was like "let me write all this down and take it to your lead coder if I can find her and she will get back with you." Less than 5 minutes later, I received an email from my lead coder stating that I was terminated. I knew she was in the office the entire time I was on the phone with my preceptor, it's amazing how quickly I received that email. Initially I was hurt but I quickly got over it and replied to her email with a "thank you." I told her that I have no regrets and when one door closes another one opens. I sent a personal thank you to my preceptor for answering all my questions as well. When I left my full time job with benefits to work for MedAssurant, I went in with a positive attitude knowing that if it did not work out, that meant God had something better for me and whatever happened I knew that he had already worked it out.
So what I want to say to everyone considering employment with MedAssurant, just be careful, keep good notes and keep a log of all the changes you made to a chart and why you made those changes. Keep a log of each time you speak with your preceptor and what is verbally discussed. Also any emails that you receive from your preceptor and lead coder forward them to your personal email address outside of MedAssurant so that you have proof of everything, just in case they try to pull a fast one on you like they did me. I made the mistake of not doing these things so my statements literally meant nothing to them.
I have talked to other people that went through the exact same things with MedAssurant, no communication from the preceptor unless they initiated the call, numerous errors caused by things that were taught in training and there are even errors in their manuals that are sent out to you, at least there were when I was in training, they may have updated or corrected the errors by now because that was a little over two months ago. By the way, I am not trying to blame anyone for my errors but it is what it is.
Well anyways, that's my spill and I am actually sending them their equipment back today. Someone called me and asked if I had already sent it back and I told her no because my lead coder said I would be receiving something in the mail from HR with return instructions and I never did. I told her "trust me I am not trying to keep their equipment because I do not want any "MESS" with my last check and I was hoping I could get it back to them before payroll was submitted." She emailed me everything I needed to return the equipment, so FedEx will pick it up in the morning.
Oh, by the way, as far as the $1,000 sign on bonus, I never received any of it and I called about it but no one ever returned my call. I also called and requested an official separation notice from MedAssurant, I never received it and my phone calls regarding it were never returned. The lady I spoke with today about the equipment said she had no idea about separation notices, I was like WOW......