vonney
Guest
Having the general knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology will not be enough to get hired by most companies. A career in coding should not be advertised as a flexible career on the rise to work at home. Only highly skilled coders with many years in the field will get hired to work from home. Taking classes online, or getting a certificate from a community college, and passing the CPC test with the designation CPC-A will not get you hired. This is similar to a medical transcriptionist. Many MTs get their CMT after years of work. I have been a medical/secretary/transcriptionist for many years. My job as an MT entails transcribing the operative note the coders bill from, so needless to say, I know more than just general medical terminology, anatomy and physiology. Due to the new technology of voice recognition in transcription, the salaries for MTs have been cut in half. I believed in what the media was saying about jobs in coding, so I enrolled in community college and received a medical coding specialist certificate June 2010. I paid $300 to take the AAPC certification test, passed the test December 2010, and so far no one has hired me. I volunteered as an extern at a billing service company. They were very helpful in making sure I got some hands-on coding and billing. I worked there 4 hours per day for 6 weeks, while continuing to work as an MT in the afternoons. I have attended my local chapter meetings in Atlanta for the past 2 years. I paid my dues and kept up with my CEUs. I have not given up yet, as I have just applied for a position this past week that highlighted my medical background. I will just have to wait on the outcome. The money for yearly coding books, yearly association fees, and membership dues at the local chapter is just no longer an option when no one is hiring without experience.
Coding books, medical coding books