billing vs coding sm

• billing vs coding sm - CrispyCritterMT
  • Transcription vs.coding - Patricia

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Hi, I am currently a transcriber.  (leaving the field because as you all know this field is getting too ridiculous).  I am planning to attend a billing and coding school locally.  I was wondering if the hours vary for coding/billing or are the working hours typical 9-5 or 8-4, etc.    TIA

Curious whether there are any MTs out there, or anyone who knows info, on going into billing and coding...

I'm considering training for that in my spare time now, so that I have the opportunity later, if I decide to pursue that.  Are there a fair amount of work-at-home positions in billing and coding?  After my newbie days, I've never had trouble finding MT work with good companies, so I wondered if billing was as widespread, at home.  I haven't found nearly as much info out there on at-home billing, other than get-rich-quick scheming.  Anyone know if the pay is on a similar scale?  Opportunity for PT and FT, like MT?  Similarities and differences (not on the actual job, but work issues like benefits, flexibility, etc.)

Thanks for any help!

alliedschools.com

Has anyone tried either their medical billing or coding training courses??

Did you like it, would you recommend it?? I'm tired of working at a restaurant and would like to learn a career but I just want make sure that I am learning from a school that will actually lead me somewhere(specially that it cost 1600 dollars)

So please let me know what you think about them and if there is other schools that you will recomment over them!

Thanks

My husband is curious and wanting to get into Medical Billing/Coding and work from home like I do with transcription.  Does anyone know of a website, like this one, that offers so many jobs from home and information regarding coding and/or billing?  Thanks.  Also, if anyone has input on this please let us know.  Would love to find out which course is the best, etc....thanks!

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.

I have plenty of clients, no shortage of work. Recently I started picking up some extra legal transcription from a company who is swamped & always begging for help. It's not something I've had much opportunity to do and it's fun to do something different. But they're totally out of the technological loop. I bill all my clients by an Excel spreadsheet attached to an email, and I have a master spreadsheet set up that keeps track of all my invoices for me. They are the only ones who can't open it. I know they can because someone who used to work there could, but now they have a new person and no one there can open it. Of course they can probably right click and "open with" some kind of viewer, but why is it my problem to teach them that? (here's where the "am I being a total a$$ question comes in!)  I'm tired of their clueless clerk emailing me five times every time I send her an invoice asking me to resend it and having to respond "If you can't open it, it's not going to help to resend it."  Sure I can mail it, but why should I when I have plenty of other clients?  Do you think I'd be an a$$ for unceremoniously dumping them? would you do it in a quieter way and leave the door open for further work? 

They are so technologically out of the loop, it's not even funny. I asked them for an electronic copy of one of their style guides for easy searching, and they said they don't do that and they "don't keep" things.  They just have one hard copy they are xeroxing over and over.  I knew it was somewhere, it had obviously been typed it on a computer. It's a .pdf file on the web! Someone had downloaded it directly from the court's web site. They are supposed to provide me with the names of judges and attorneys on the tapes but they don't and I have to struggle to hear names and spell them phonetically or designate unidentified voices somehow so I can tell them apart and then go back and globally replace them when I hear the name or I'm sure of the spelling. This adds countless time to transcribing their cases AND THEY HAVE THAT INFORMATION. I've asked them for lists or links for judge's/attorney names so I can at least search when they don't give them to me.  No dice. I have since found good links on the web, of course.

I'm worried about getting in deeper with them, I'm not overly familiar with legal work and I'm just going to keep coming up against their not being able to provide me with the tools I need. Every time I have to find something for myself it's costing me money, obviously, being paid on production.  They annoy me and I seem to have a very low threshold for that.  But it's valuable experience and they are desperate, the owner won't be happy.  But she's as clueless as her staff.

... and what are "ambiguous line counts" (mentioned by someone who has a web site related to verifiable billing which I cannot for the life of me figure out).

I charge X amount for a 65-character line.  I take characters w/spaces, divide by 65 and voila, there's my line count.  How much more "verifiable" can that get?

Can someone explain to me what this means in case the person who mentions this doesn't ever reply to my question? 

Hi, I am new to the IC area of MT, having always worked for services before now.  I have a friend who wants me to type letters for her practice.  Is it usual to charge for the address and reference lines along with the body of the letter?  Makes quite a big difference in the line count.  Thanks!

I just can't seem to make any money working at home with the kids talking to me constantly with transcipriton so I am thinking about switching to something I don't have to listen to.  Maybe medical billing.  Any advice anyone? 

Thanks

I've had this account for about four months now.  They are very slow payers.  I originally was going to bill them once a month, but then decided to do bi-monthly.  I still haven't gotten payment from the 11/30 invoice, so I inqured today and the office manager said they are changing their billing process and I need to submit a monthly invoice.  I also wonder how long she would have went without paying the 11/30 invoice if I hadn't of called. 

I figured they want a monthly invoice to make things a little easier on their end like they want to pay all their bills once a month.  I called her to verify what day she would like to be billed on/by and she said it doesn't matter.  I just need to put a due date on the bill, as she is making a folder with all their bills and paying the bills by their due dates.  I told her my bill is due upon receipt and she said that is fine just put the due date as the next day, which makes no sense to me because they have never paid sooner than three weeks.

Does this make sense?  It sounds to me like maybe the office is having money troubles and didn't want to pay my last invoice.  I remember an MTSO here saying that she gives her clients a percentage break if they pay within so many days.  Does this work?  All I want is my money and fast.  I have bills to pay too.

I appreciate any ideas or thoughts regarding this subject.  Thanks!

PS - I personally know the MT who had this account before me and they never paid late.  She always received the check within a couple days after receipt of her bill.  I just don't get it.

If billing by bytes do you divide this by say 65 (standard line), same as for characters?  Thanks so much.

I would venture to say 99.9% of medical offices use a computer system for their billing which has HCFA formatting and electronic submission built right in. It is pretty easy to do coding in the office setting too. In good conscience, could not recommend investing money in training for either field...

Can anyone give me a good program to invest in that would allow me to keep a line count and also provide invoices? Also, is there a recommended HIPAA approved transferring site to transfer files through the net? Thanks a bunch!

I have been thinking for quite a while about getting into coding.  Are there any MTs here who are also coders?  Are there any reputable "on-line" coding schools?  I really would like to do this.  27 years is enough.  If anybody knows about this, feel free to e-mail me.

Thanks

I used to work in a Doctor's office and do coding, electronic insurance billing, statements.  I loved it, but I had to quit because of my kids.  If my kids were older, I would still be doing it now.  I fell into coding when I was a Medical Assistant and it lasted 16 years.  Maybe I will get into it again when the kids get older. 

As far as any online schools that good, I don't know.  But what I can tell you is from my experience, working from an office or hospital is the best place to be for coding!!

I will try to be brief (please don't think me curt but there is much more I could say that I just don't have time to go into).

First to be a professional coder, you will need to be nationally certified.  There are 2 national organizations that provide proctored certification.  The first was AAPC and has an excellent program for both office-based and hospital-based coding certifications.  You can do the home program or find a company who provides classroom instruction and testing.  Either route will cost you about $1500 and about 3-4 months investment.  The other national is AHIMA.  You would need to look at their website to find the details for them, as I did not utilize them.  They cater more to people who are already in the field and need certification.

Because AHIMA's umbrella covers more than just coding, hospitals tend to give more credibility to their credentialling, but since AAPC set the standard and has the largest number of members, they have to be doing something right.  Both companies require prior coding experience, personal recommendations and membership in their organization.  If you have no previous experience, they have apprenticeship programs.  The CEUs to maintain your certification is about 20 per year with each organization.

Your investment in resources to perform your job is greater than in MT.  You will probably need a lap top and several programs to perform your job if it is not provided by an employer.  You can be a consultant if you can't get a job as a coder.  You could get additional certification and become an instructor and teach.

The next issue is home versus on-site work.  Some MT companies are beginning to combined MT and coding into their at-home programs; however, if you have no experience and no liability insurance and no support network, you could find yourself out of a job if you cannot produce quantity and quality quickly.  Finding a on-site coding position is difficult without experience unless you get lucky and find an office to give you a chance.  Many, many times your best bet to find a job is by networking through your local national's chapter or showing exceptional talent in the classroom setting and getting a referral from the instructor.

Coding is different from MT in that you are held liable by the federal government if you make a mistake.  Yes, the doctor is ultimately responsible, but the wording in the law states that the person who submits the bill is as guilty as the provider.  There are monetary and jail time penalties - and how much of each depends on how well you can prove it was accidental because the government assumes the fraud was intentional unless proven otherwise.  Better have insurance.  Because of this law, that is why you are seeing a greater need for certified coders...hospitals in particular do not want to expose themselves to the liability of the Office of Inspector General with unqualified personnel.

I got a coding auditor position on the outpatient side of a hospital.  I went to the clinics and performed audits of the previous quarter for every doctor at each clinic.  I scored everything, compiled reports, provided education to the doctors who failed the audits, provided monthly ongoing education and a coding hotline for daily unusual circumstances.  I was paid about $20/hr which was the low end of the spectrum for a hospital employee.  Physician offices tend to pay $12-15.  When I relocated to a different part of the country, I could not immediately find a coding position, so I went back into MT.  It took another year before I found a management company where I could code, but by then I needed to return back across the country due to family issues...and I let my certification lapse and continued with MT.

what is the best way to get into coding?  I have thought about an online course. 

I have experience in medical billing for 12 years and transcription for four years and I am also going back to school to pursue coding and take the national exam to get my CPC.  Coding is the new future as this transcription business is falling apart everyday.  It is so hard to make a decent wage.  These National companies are indeed a sweat shop taking advantage of the DR’s and paying us a pathetic price.  I make 12 cents a line working for a local physician, but I have lost 4 doctors already due to outsourcing.  I am running fast back to school because I think in the next couple years there will be VR everywhere.  What a shame to such a good profession.  This is just because someone was a little bit too greedy.

Good luck with coding. 

I am taking a continuing education class through my college for 8 months with medical terminology, which I really do not need as I have enough of that, but I am sure it will not hurt, and anatomy and physiology plus the coding.  I have also heard of the Carol J. Buck books and I am also going to purchase them once they come out in the first of January.  I heard these are good books.  I am one of those persons that needs someone to teach me and do better than trying to read out of the book and doing it on my own, but the Carol Buck book would not hurt as an addition.  This is the way to go for me as I have been burned too many times in this transcription industry in the last four years.  It is a shame it is like this way.  There is too much negativity.

I've actually thought about coding as well.  I was an ART/RHIT so I've done a bit of it and liked it, but I liked transcription better.  That was then; this is now.  If HHS would ever stop messing about, the US would start using ICD-10 like the rest of the civilized world.  This is very different from the current ICD-9-CM, so even experienced coders will have to take classes.  Some of my coder friends say they would consider retirement at that time.  Perhaps it would be our opportunity to make a switch. 

Airline job, huh?  I hope he means Southwest because the old major carriers aren't doing well.  I do wonder about Sir Richard Branson's new Virgin America, though.  Of course, maybe you'd get free/reduced fare miles and the paid vacation time to spend them on as part of the benefit package.  Got anywhere you'd like to go?  Taking son along is optional. (she smiles)