Unfortunately there aren't very many work-at-home coding jobs. NM

• Are any of you familiar with medical coding? - sm - I need a better job!
  • coding - me2
  • I took coding classes and took the - anonymissy
  • coding - not my cup of tea - pumpernickel
  • Unfortunately there aren't very many work-at-home coding jobs. NM - deb
  • Coding - cj
    • coding pay - curious girl
      • coding - cj
        • What sort of mistakes can be made, and - sm - I need a new job!
          • forgot to say - cj
            • also forgot - cj
          • coding - cj
            • Pray tell, what exactly is coding? - HappyCat

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Is medical transcription one of the only legitimate careers available for people who want/need to be able to work from their home?  In searching for work-at-home opportunities it seems that so many things are scams.  I realize one can open any number of businesses that are based in their homes, but I'm talking about working FOR someone...for a company, and doing it from home.  I bought a book that supposedly gave lists of companies willing to hire people for work from home, but almost all of them either A.  Required a person to reside in a state I don't or B.  Had experience requirements that I didn't meet.  I'm just wondering if there is some big area of the marketplace that I'm missing that routinely hires people to work from their home, like medical transcription.  Can anyone help with this?  Thanks.

Like customer service or taking orders?

I started looking around and ran into a lot of ads and scams.

Any info would be appreciated, I want to get out of this field before too long.

Has anyone had success with at-home job opportunities over the internet, i.e, on-line surveys, Google adwords ?

The feds see it like this - you (the coder) are in the business of getting payment for yourself, your facility, and the doctor.  Anyone in the "getting it paid" chain is suspect.  The MT is normally not in the "getting it paid" chain, they are in the "creating the report" chain.  MTs feel safe that the doctor will be blamed for mistakes, and they have no control over whether money is coming in when they simply type the report.  When you are coding, your liability is equal to the doctor's.  When someone is creating the report as well as coding it, because they are aware that what they type needs to be payable, their incentive for and ability to pad a report to make it more payable will be much more suspect by the feds.  Many doctors offer bonuses to their coders based directly on the percentage of paid claims they produce, and the feds know this. It could certainly be construed as a conflict of interest, and it is very bad business practice to say the least.

IMO, this entire thread should actually be on the Billers & Coders forum.  If you want to argue the legalities, please go there for current coder's advice.  I no longer do coding, but I am certain a coder's personal legal liabilities are vastly greater than that of an MT.

I am thinking of going back to school now, while I have a reasonably good job.  Problem is, because of medical concerns, I have to be able to work from home.  What other options are there for folks like me who find it a requirement to work from home?

Any advice appreciated. 

Thanks.

This is to the person that posted about Diskriter and why she did not take the job. I am also posting on this board as well.

I do not work for Diskriter, however, I can say with complete accuracy (I have a relative that works as a private criminal investigator for large and small corporations) that the reason that a lot of companies (not necessarily just transcription companies, in particular,) that have at home or offsite employees are requesting a physical and drug screen and background check is because:

a) background check is necessary in some cases because the potential employee will have access to SSN#, credit info, addresses, DOB, etc on many many people.

b) physical and drug screens are necessary because the company may be partly footing the cost for benefits, health insurance, life insurance, etc. Maybe they do not want to pay for drug rehabs (think about it)

c) drug screens - let's face it, some of these companies are sending equipment, vital information on people in the US, paying for travel for employment, etc (i.e. carrying drugs on planes, stealing ID for credit card info, stealing and reselling computers and equipment that was shipped to the potential employee, etc)

You would be surprised the things I was told about, including arrests for identity theft!! In the last two years, a TON of arrests have been made by investigators and agencies on people working at home!! Police are making drug arrests at homes and low and behold, some of the arrests are people that work at home doing a "day job" while dealing out of their house. Nice little sideline income, don't ya think.

So think about this - if a company is going to pay for a physical and drug screen for you to be employed with them, don't be offended by it. They are protecting themselves and their clients from potential identity theft, druggies, and thieves.

I'm sure I will be slammed for this post, but I know what I am talking about.

You could easily be the victim of identity theft and guess where the source could potentially come from? Transcriptionists. Think about it - we have access to some hospital databases that require us to put in patient information from the patient database, that means addresses, ID#, etc.

I PERSONALLY knew of a transcriptionist from NYC that could barely function more than 2 hours a day because she spent the rest of her day stoned out of her mind! Did you read the thread about traveling transcriptionists and drug screening? Do you want somebody stoned or high or meth'd up typing your hospital records?  So what's to stop them from taking it a step further and commit identity theft. 

So we're considered a thing of the past, ah-hem!  Here are the 10 jobs. ~

Administrative Assistant
Also known as virtual assistants, home-based administrative assistants use office experience and computer skills as support personnel. Many skills easily transition into this position which offers many part-time and temporary opportunities.

Advertising Sales Agent
It's said that Americans are exposed to more than 3,000 ad messages a day. Advertising sales representatives sell or solicit advertising space in print and online publications, custom-made signs, or TV and radio advertising spots.

Computer Software Engineer
Computer software engineers are projected to be one of the fastest-growing occupations over the 2002-2012 period. Duties include design, development, testing and evaluation of computer software, and continual training is suggested for the quickly evolving industry.

Corporate Event Planner
Employed by a private company rather than a hotel or convention facility, a corporate event planner coordinates staff activities including group meetings, client presentations, special events, conventions and travel.

Copy Editor
Copy editors mostly review and edit a writer's copy for accuracy, content, grammar and style. This is a competitive field; however, the growth of online publications and services is spurring the demand for writers and editors, especially those with Web experience.

Desktop Publisher
Desktop publishers use computer software to format and combine text, images, charts and other visual elements to produce publication-ready material. Duties of this fast-growing profession include writing and editing text, creating graphics, converting photos and drawings into digital images, designing page layouts and developing presentations.

Data Entry Clerk
Like administrative assistants, job prospects should be best for those with expertise in computer software applications. By typing text, entering data into a computer, and performing other clerical duties, these workers ensure companies keep up with information and technology.

Insurance Underwriter
Insurance underwriters serve as the main link between the insurance carrier and the insurance agent. Underwriters analyze insurance applications, calculate the risk of loss from policyholders, decide whether to issue the policy and establish appropriate premium rates.

Market Research Analyst
Market Research Analysts gather data on competitors and analyze prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. They often design surveys, compile and evaluate the data and make recommendations to their client or employer based upon their findings.

Paralegal
While lawyers assume ultimate responsibility for legal work, much of their work is delegated to paralegals. Paralegals not only assist in preparation for closings, hearings, trials, and corporate meetings, they also perform a number of other vital functions including draft contracts, mortgages, separation agreements, trust instruments and may assist in preparing tax returns and planning estates.

Just wondering if anybody works part-time for two companies?

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.

second job is everything but ops since that is all someone wants on the account I'm on.

It's not all cut and paste. Make macros for common phrases. If you find you keep spelling something wrong, make a macro of the wrong spelling so that it automatically corrects it. I write down my words that keep getting stopped in spell check and at the end of the day I make a macro of it to put in the correct spelling. If it needs a capital letter, make a macro so that it capitalizes for you w/o hitting the shift key. If it's an abbreviation that needs to be capitalized, macro a macro of it. Lowercase pt comes out as PT, pmh comes out as PMH. I use pmh- to make it print out as past medical history and put a semicolon after pmh; for it to print out in capital letters. I have macros for the % sign. 1P = 1% and goes all the way up to 100p for 100%, 1L is 1 liter, 1h = 1 hour. If you are constantly typing certain headings for doctors make a macro of it. I have one doctor that wants all different headings than on the template we are given. I made a template just for him where everything is capitalized and bolded the way he wants so that saves me a ton of time. Make macros for your common meds. Also put correct caps of meds into your spellcheck. If I capitalize something like prednisone, it will make it automatically a lowercase w/o stopping on it except if it is the beginning of a sentence.