Wiki position title questions

[LSpangler]

I am planning my next career steps after I take (and pass) the CPC exam soon. I will be an apprentice. I am currently working as a cancer registry associate doing follow-up work in a large hospital and would like to stay with that hospital (but will consider doctor practices, too). I have been in this position for about 6 months and it is the first job in my new career after 25 years in the animal care profession (i.e. I am middle-aged).

My questions are would a biller be a good next step? Is a chart analyst or an auditor a position to go for before a coding job or are these positions more for an experienced coder?

Laurie

 

[rthames052006]

I am planning my next career steps after I take (and pass) the CPC exam soon. I will be an apprentice. I am currently working as a cancer registry associate doing follow-up work in a large hospital and would like to stay with that hospital (but will consider doctor practices, too). I have been in this position for about 6 months and it is the first job in my new career after 25 years in the animal care profession (i.e. I am middle-aged).

My questions are would a biller be a good next step? Is a chart analyst or an auditor a position to go for before a coding job or are these positions more for an experienced coder?

Laurie

Congrats are in order for you Laurie..

My question that I ask you is "What do you want to do". Where does your passion lie... do you want to be a biller/chart analyst or an auditor. It all depends on you weather or not what would be a "good next step".

What is your goal? We all have differant paths we want to follow and how we choose to get there.

For me personally I started as a business office clerk, then went to billing DME then went to collections then to biller, I decided after about 5 years of billing that I wanted to be a certified coder to see what doors that opened up for me. I continued to work for an Internal Med practice 3 in the capacity of a biller which was ok, then I thought I want to "be a coder" when I say that it is that I had the "mentality" that a coder was a "production coder" coding from op notes and after applying for every "production coder" position and not getting those jobs I sat back and reflected that I don't need to be a "production coder" coding from op notes to be classified as a coder.

I finally left my IM practice and went to a Family Practice/Peds office being a billing manager and I am quite happy with my choice, I do coding of small procedures they do in the office mostly the 10000 series of codes and I am happy with that.

So I guess my answer to your question is still "Where does your passion lie".

Hopefully you will figure it out and it will come to you eventually. It took me almost 4 years to realize where I wanted to be and I am happy with my decision.

Best of luck to you.

 

[kevbshields]

Cancer registry is a budding field and according to some sources will suffer a large-scale retirement very soon. Coding is a good "sister" career to registry positions and carry comparable respect, job outlook and involvement in HIM.

Look into tumor registry as a possible career path. It's one that's frequently overlooked in coding education and other areas where our future candidate pools come from.

Good luck.

 

[LSpangler]

I do know what work environment I like: quiet, minimal confrontational situations, I also get a lot of satisfaction out of working on large lists or piles of paperwork that others might consider "tedious" work. I also like a predictable routine to my day. I must say after years of working with animals and humans I have found a nice comfort zone in this field although I miss my furry friends. I find my current job very low-stress and satisfying right now, but feel I will want to grow and move up eventually.

So how does "production" coding, billing or chart analyst fit in with those factors?

I am just now getting to know coders in my local chapter, but am so new that I haven't met enough to get into the details of what they do yet.

Going backpacking for the weekend so will check in later.

Thanks!