Does anyone work as medical coder who
Posted By: sm on 2006-09-14
In Reply to:
can answer a few questions? 1) Has anyone transitioned from MT to coder and, if so, how does it compare salary-wise? 2) Can it be done at home as MT can? 3) How long to train and ease of securing job as newbie? There seems to be a big demand these days in comparison with MT jobs. After 15+ years as an MT, I'm wondering if that would be a better way to go?? Would appreciate any info!
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Supposedly more dfficult to find work as coder, than as MT.
zz
coder
why don't you just code from home? I have seen plenty of work from home coding jobs, make it easy on yourself.
Coder vs. Transcriptionist
Honestly, which is better? As far as job market, earnings, and essential functions of the job?
and the truth is, I don't WANT to be a coder.
I pulled up the course curriculum yesterday from our local jr college, and, though most of it is taken care of with my previous degree, I don't really want to be a coder. Who knows, maybe the next president will outlaw outsourcing and we'll all be in the "green" again. Never can tell! All we have to expect next is pigs to fly.
i used to be a coder inhouse. sm
my schooling was actually a combination of MT/coding so i had the option of either. i started out coding at a local doc office. i didn't have much of a problem with it. the cons i would say was dealing with people b*tching about the bills and medicaid pain in the *ss, but other than that was fine. i slowly picked up MT work on the side to do in the evenings part time, realized how much money i was making and eventually quit the inhouse job to go full time at home as an MT and tripled my money. not sure about coding at home so i can't help you there.
Posted on Coder's board, but cannot get a reply
nm
Medical Malpractice lawyer work
I've read here before about some MTs who work for RNs transcribing their notes for medical malpractice lawyers, particularly in So Cal. If anyone out there can give me more info such as need, what to charge, how to find, etc, I would be so grateful---I'm an MT/editor/quality auditor with 10 years' experience needing to make more money out of my skills.
Thanks!
Does Shorthand work with Medical Spellcheckers?
Just getting to know the Expander program "Shorthand", and saw that it says to shut off all spell-checkers. Does that mean that I cannot run Spellex or another Medical Spell Check program with it? Has anyone any suggestions as to what they use? Or any "work-arounds"
I am just getting started and trying to decide if I like "As-U-Type" or "Shorthand" better as my word expander. It seems that "Shorthand" does not act like a spell-checker like "As-u-Type" does, so need to add one.....preferrably a medical one.
If it is a medical office, they should have one as we all sign one when we work there -- nm
...
I currently work for Accustat LLC but got an offer from Cort Medical
 Does anyone know or have any information about Cort Medical?
Yeah, but medical personnel who actually work directly with
patients are a bit "different" like that. They think nothing of taking a look or having a touch here and there. And the morbid senses of humor many of them have. My friends from high school are both RNs now, but they're like that.
ALL of the clinics I work on use SS #s as medical record numbers, and many of them cc to the
patient at their home address, which is conveniently typed at the bottom of the report. Seems pretty straight-forward to us, then why can't the govt figure this out and put a stop to it?
I seriously doubt that type of work is as complex as medical reports.
nm
Yes, it's Independent Medical which are normally work comp related and Looooooong...
but very interesting.
I would buy new a Dorland's Medical Dictionary, Stedmans Medical and Surgical Equipment...SM
and Tessier's The Surgical Word Book, 3rd edition. Books you could buy used I would say would be Stedman's Pathology and Lab Medicine and Cardiology/Pulmonary word book. These are all the books I use the most during my day. You could buy other speciality word books as you need them and could probably go used with those.
I wouldn't bother with buying a drug book, new editions come out every year and I just stick to the FDA website and RXList as my drug references.
Also FYI, not a book, but I use my Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictationary a lot. It's easier to open the program than it is to pick up a huge 30-pound dictionary.
Medical Transcription In The Era Of Electronic Medical Records
EMR has revolutionized the healthcare industry in recent times. Many experts felt that EMR & Voice Recognition would totally replace Medical Transcription - however; the industry soon realized that transcription has certain advantages over point & click charting and many physicians preferred to dictate notes rather than document the data at the point of care themselves.
At ease, soldier! This isn't a medical document. I repeat, this isn't a medical document. nm
x
I've thought about coding. My DH does medical coding and I think with an MT's medical termino
background and anatomy and physiology knowledge, a transition into coding wouldn't be hard at all. From what I can tell by looking through my husband's books, an MT would have to learn insurance regulations and legalities. We've basically got all the medical background down or we should be if we're worth our salt as an MT.
I even contacted AHIMA and found that the qualifications for taking the CCS or CCP coding exams are completion of the a coding program, RHIT program, or RHIA or related work experience. Transcription is part of HIM, albeit the red-headed stepchild of the HIM department, but a part nonetheless and so satisfies the qualification of having work experience.
The test is tough though. My husband didn't pass it his first time out and I think I read something like only 20% or so pass it the first time. So it would probably be best to take some sort of formal coding class, in my opinion.
medical abbreviation list and medical drug list
Hi,
Anyone there who could help me out finding the latest abbreviations list.
I even want the latest drug list because my current program does not have many drugs.
So if anyone could suggest anything which is available online for informationd quick look purposes.
any help for medical abbreviation list and medical drug list would be very helpful.
Your English teacher does not do medical reports. This is for medical reports.
.
It's not a MEDICAL spellchecker. You have to convince them to add the medical spellchecker.
unless you feel like adding 10,000 medical terms on your own time LOL
I get my work from an FTP site that they load the work to, however I don't have pool work so to
speak, but I tell them how many minutes a day I want. The work is generally put in my box by 5 pm every day, then I have until 10 am the following day for some priority work, or 3:30 pm for the rest, so TAT is not too bad. I would like to work less at night though, but I working on that. My downside is I do not get the same dictators day to day, there are a few I do on a semi-regular basis though, some generate great lines but take longer to do that other doc's and are not "money-makers", I also do not get paid for spaces so that hurts a bit too. This is WP5.1 too.....so very antiquated but that is what the hospital uses, so not much choice there. But I understand what you mean about the C-phone. I was just doing another job with C-phone recently...they incidentally did not tell me how to get off of the system, which was very simple. I'd finish a job, then hit stop and hangup if I wanted to get off or quit working. That is what you need to do if you want to sleep, eat, etc. Don't feel guilty, do what you signed up for, believe me they watch the pools and will get others to do the work you don't finish. If they get on your case remind them that you are only PT and only want 500 lines a day, etc. It's not worth killing yourself over. Good Luck. 
QT Medical does not. nm
medical ins
Thanks for the info. Did you like working for them?
IC but not medical
From what I understand there are online "marketplaces" where a Transcriptionist (medical, legal, or other) can bid on jobs. If you don't want to work for a week you simply do not bid that week.
One is called Guru. I can't remember the name of the other one.
B. S. in Medical Technology
I worked in a hospital laboratory for 33 years and retired in 2001. I found out about a year later that my husband was losing his medical insurance after he retired on disability and so I had to go back to work. I had dabbled with transcription in the pathology department and so I decided to make it my second career and I just love it. I get to work from home and don't have to deal with the office politics and all the bureaucratic red tape that comes with working at a hospital.
Color me happy!!!! 
Ellen S.
Medical experience
I guess I should have worded that different...I've been in the medical field for a total of eight years (medical assistant, medical secretary/admin. assistant, EEG Tech), but only being doing MT work full time for 4 years. I've also taken A LOT of extra classes on terminology and anatomy/physiology. Plus, MT is just one of those things that came naturally for me, it's been really easy to pick up the "language." So I guess I'll stay with this company then, if that pay is not bad. Thanks.
Medical Dictionary
Does anyone know if there is a place to download a free medical dictionary?
Medical Dictionary
MT Mom
Hey thanks guys for the suggestions. I am going to be doing transcription at home for they physician I work for and am using Word perfect 12. It has a spell check on it but was looking for a medical spell check I could download and use along with a general spell check.
Dragon-Medical 7
Got mine on e-bay for half of Softscan.
An MT is a Medical Transcriptionist...sm
Here is a link and some helpful information on desertion in the military. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Desertion
Good luck!
ME = Medical Editor. nm.
nm.
You ARE a medical transcriptionist, right?!
Geez, how idiotic can you be?!
It addresses ALL medical transcriptionists. Again, the new definitions for two classes of their transcriptionists have apparently been updated. That does NOT exclude SEs! LOLOLOL
Ya can't see the forrest for the trees can ya?! LOLOLOL
Medical Insurance??
I am looking at moving back to working from home, I am currently 'in-house' working for a hospital clinic but I need more flexibility for my children's schedules.
I have a decent lead on an IC position, but I am trying to figure out if I can find/afford health care. I really only need catastrophic type care and plan to pay for my own routine care.
Does anyone know of a decent insurance company??
Thanks VT_MT
It is a Medical Transcriptionist
and Medical Editor. I was confused at first too but you can do both. They never had ME's before.
medical trancriptionist
I am looking for a medical transcrioptionist job in the following area: Clarksville or Nashville TN. I have experience in medical transcription work and would like to work from my home. I am eager to hear from anyone in this area. Thyank you Nancy Seymour
Sorry, don't know about Cort Medical,
are they in Wisconsin also? Also, do you do SLMC ER for Accustat?
OMG! I think I worked there, too! Except it was a medical
insurance company. We had to be at our desks 10 minutes before our shift started. Then my coworkers turned the company in to the Department of Labor and Industry for unpaid overtime to the tune of approximately 40 hours per year. So the company changed it to 5 minutes and rewrote their OT policy. We had to give blood to earn time off. The same thing for personal phone calls. They actually had recorders on our desk phones for beneficiary purposes, but that didn't stop them from using it to monitor our personal calls, too. I found out that the recorders were recording us while we weren't on the phone as well, so any nonbusiness discussions between workers were recorded and listened to. That's how they targeted who would be fired next. Our Internet usage was tracked, even though we were allowed to use it on our breaks. They were firing people with 15+ years or more with the company because they could get younger college grads for a fraction of the wages the "older" workers earned. When I was hired, it was to replace someone they fired, so I had zero training and had to figure it all out myself. The boss' pet got special treatment and was recruiting people for her Internet business by bypassing the proxy server on her work computer during business hours. We got in trouble for snacking at our desks, but the pet took long lunches to run errands and then ate her lunch at her desk when she was supposed to be working. I got in trouble for taking too many bathroom breaks (I have kidney problems) even though I skipped my regularly scheduled breaks to make up for it. There were so many "unwritten" rules that I didn't know, so my coworkers backstabbed me for not following along. What, being psychic was a job requirement? I could go on and on, but my blood pressure's going up just thinking about it. I quit and even gave a statement to the fired older workers to sue. I think they dropped the suit because most of them got hired by a competitor. I vowed to never again work for a big corporation after that.
if it was in my medical record?
It would depend upon whether or not it could have a negative impact upon my medical care. If the doctor dictated something like, "The patient has diabetes" (when I don't), yeah, I would ask them to correct the record. But for something like what was stated originally ... heck no. Let it stay.
But that's me ... I don't have OCD and I'm not anal retentive about this business like others. Never have been and never will be.
I still think you need to lighten up. There's a lot more to worry about in life than something like that.
medical transcription ?
Does anyone know of a legitimate work from home transcription company who wants someone with there training but has no experience yet. Thanks!
IC to medical secretary
 Thanks everyone for your input. I have a lot to consider and you all have been a great help.
This is why every MT should own a medical dictionary. NM
x
www.medical-speller.com
You get a free trial of the spellchecker. Later, if you choose to buy, I think it is $29.99. Don't know of any others.
BS in Medical Technology
I worked as a medical technologist (lab tech) in a hospital laboratory for 30+ years before retiring in 2001. I was interested in transcription as a second career so I volunteered to cover the pathology secretary's days off just for the experience.......and here I am and love it. The pay is only half what I made in the lab but there is much less stress and I love working at home. Obviously, my many years in the medical field helped tremendously with terminology but there was still a tremendous amount to learn; it's a continuous learning process. 
Medical expenses
January, 2000 - DH tore rotator cuff, needed MRI/arthrogram, followed by rotator cuff repair.
January, 2001 - I had foot surgery in podiatrist's office.
January, 2002 - DH had cervical MRI/myelogram, followed by anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion, two levels.
January, 2003 - DH had knee MRI, followed by arthroscopy.
January, 2004 - I had LASIK surgery.
OMYGOSH, it's almost January again! 
He can't discontinue medical. sm
I am sure he will be bound by law to continue the children on medical insurance if he has it available to him. My ex-husband did and my present husband is bound by law to provide it for his children even though their mother provides dual insurance. Check with your lawyer.
new job - no medical spellcheck
Hi all ... yesterday I started a new job - hospital MT, decent pay, great location. But guess what - the program is so old there is no medical spellcheck in it! And the old lady that works the other shift, who's had the job for light years, does not use the AutoCorrect feature of MSWord! The boss told me feel free to use it (thank God) - but can you imagine that????? Any advice ?
Thanks guys!
What about Gov't medical for kids?
I am a single mom, kids 15, 10 and 7. My husband died 5 years ago, so I am solo parenting.
My kids are covered medically by the state run 'Dr Dynosaur' program, which is essential a medicaid program. There are different criteria for kids than for adults in my state. I don't qualify for Medicaid (I am an IC), but my kids qualify for Dr Dynosaur, wch I pay $80/month for.
You may want to see if there is something similar in your state.
Good Luck.
it is likely they are processing your medical
claims.
getting a job as a medical transcriptionist
I am getting ready to graduate as a medical Transcriptionist from an online school. How long does it normally take for a new graduate to get a job?? I have noticed that no one wants to hire a new graduate..
Medical advice???
Sheesh! I highly doubt that there are any doctors visiting the main forum of MTstars to dole out medical advice. Folks should have sense enough to call their doc or dial 911. Has typing turned some of your brains to mush?
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