* New folks in the industry aren't always the only ones suffering. After I'd hit my plateau I was forced to work from home (forced, because it was not my ideal work setting) for over a year. I've been trying to kick down the door of inpatient, facility-fee coding for a number of years. Despite that I did time with a Federal Payer doing DRG validation, hospitals ignored my time spent there as "non-acute care" setting, thus making me disqualified for their positions, but over qualified from a physician practice standpoint. Eventually, I found a coding job that's using both sides of my experience; I just didn't give up when the offers failed to fly my way. Struggles come and go. The point here is to keep your head up and keep looking for that next great opportunity. Years down the road, you may find yourself in a far better spot because of this struggle than the person who got a job offer out of the chute and didn't value the opportunity quite like you will.
Good luck to you.
Kevin B. Shields, CPC, CCP, CCS-P, CPC-P, RCC, ACP