Wiki Career Change Looking for Entry Level Position

aerorrer

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Location
Newport News, VA
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Hello. I have completed the CPC training course, and am scheduled to take my CPC exam in June. I do not have any relevant experience in coding/billing, but would like to get started somewhere. The only medical experience I have comes from working in a hospice care/rehabilitation center in their food service department. My resume could not be attached, so it is posted below:



Andrea Rorrer

Address:
759 Bellows Way #201, Newport News, VA 23602
Email: aenewmaster@hotmail.com
Phone Number: 757-272-7510


Summary of Qualifications

  • Strong customer service skills: predict, recommend, evaluate, and meet the needs of the specific customer
  • Interpersonal skills: creating positive relationships with customers through being friendly and outgoing
  • Technical skills: sufficient knowledge of various Microsoft Office programs (MS Word, MS Outlook, MS Excel, MS Power Point), and Microsoft operating systems (Vista, 7, and 10)
  • Leadership skills: experience training new employees at various skill levels; managers seek point of view of how a task or idea could be implemented
  • Completion of CPC training through AAPC in all relevant aspects of coding (ICD-10-CM, CPT, and HCPCS II), medical terminology, and anatomy and physiology

Relevant Skills

Completion of CPC training
  • Completed training through AAPC (American Academy of Professional Coders)
  • Completed courses in: medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and professional coding
  • Proficient knowledge of CPT, ICD-10-CM, and HCPCS II, including guidelines
  • Scored above 80% on all final exams
  • Real world examples were utilized for test questions to apply skills learned
Technical Skills
  • Excellent math skills to include percentages, fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to convert smaller or larger amounts as needed
  • Current experience with Microsoft Windows 10 operating system, with previous experience with Vista and Windows 7
  • Experience with building spreadsheets with Microsoft Excel
  • Experience in creating and formatting documents in Microsoft Word
  • Experience in creating presentations with Microsoft Power Point for college projects
  • Daily use of Microsoft Outlook for professional and personal use
  • Working knowledge of data entry
Customer Service Skills
  • Track record of 90% or higher of repeat daily customers
  • Enhance customer experience by providing quality product to customers in a timely manner
  • Ability to recommend an item that meets specific needs of the customer
  • Inform customers of any new items or changes
Interpersonal Skills
  • Create positive relationships with majority of customers through friendly and outgoing personality
  • Excellent conflict resolution skills in the event of customer dissatisfaction
  • Effectively work in a team environment to perform tasks in a timely and cost-effective manner

Professional Membership
AAPC
Member ID Number: 01744408
June 2019 - Present

Work Experience

NASA Langley Exchange
12/2014 – present
Hampton, VA – Food Service Worker

Golden Living Center Bayside of Poquoson 11/2011 – 10/2014
Poquoson, VA – Cook and Dietary Aide

Gourmet Services, LLC 09/2010 – 11/2011
Hampton, VA – Cook

Golden Horseshoe Golf Club 06/2010 – 08/2010
Williamsburg, VA – Cook 1

Education

Certification of Completion of CPC Physician Based Coding
AAPC
Salt Lake City, UT
April 2020

Certification of Completion in Anatomy and Physiology
AAPC
Salt Lake City, UT
August 2019

Certification of Completion in Medical Terminology
AAPC
Salt Lake City, UT
July 2019

Bachelors of Science in Food Service Management
Johnson & Wales University
Charlotte, NC
May 2010

Associates of Applied Science in Culinary Arts
Johnson & Wales University
Charlotte, NC
May 2008
 
Last edited:
Andrea,

This is a really great question and I hope you don't feel alone as this is a very common situation that newly certified members have. I have helped many people on their journey to find employment and I hope that the information I provide to you here with be helpful. You also have a great resume. If you would like to contact me directly, please feel free to email me at vanessa.moldovan@aapcnab.com. I am working off of the assumption that you want to be a coder. The first piece of advice that I can give you is that you must be open to the idea that you'll need to work your way into a coding position. It is VERY rare that a person is able to go from zero experience as a coder and directly into a coding position. Most organization expect their coders to gain experience in billing and then work their way up. Therefore, I recommend that you apply for any position within the revenue cycle for any organization that employs physician coders. Practically speaking, search for physician (not hospital coding) coding jobs, make note of the companies that are hiring for the coding position that you evenutally want to have and then look for jobs within those same companies, such as registration, customer service, billing, etc. Just so there is no confusion: hospitals hire physician coders, you'll just want to be careful that the coding position you are looking at requires a CPC, not a CIC or COC. I hope that this information is helpful and it will give you a good starting point. I like to use LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and the AAPC Job Board. Good luck!
 
Andrea,

This is a really great question and I hope you don't feel alone as this is a very common situation that newly certified members have. I have helped many people on their journey to find employment and I hope that the information I provide to you here with be helpful. You also have a great resume. If you would like to contact me directly, please feel free to email me at vanessa.moldovan@aapcnab.com. I am working off of the assumption that you want to be a coder. The first piece of advice that I can give you is that you must be open to the idea that you'll need to work your way into a coding position. It is VERY rare that a person is able to go from zero experience as a coder and directly into a coding position. Most organization expect their coders to gain experience in billing and then work their way up. Therefore, I recommend that you apply for any position within the revenue cycle for any organization that employs physician coders. Practically speaking, search for physician (not hospital coding) coding jobs, make note of the companies that are hiring for the coding position that you evenutally want to have and then look for jobs within those same companies, such as registration, customer service, billing, etc. Just so there is no confusion: hospitals hire physician coders, you'll just want to be careful that the coding position you are looking at requires a CPC, not a CIC or COC. I hope that this information is helpful and it will give you a good starting point. I like to use LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter and the AAPC Job Board. Good luck!
Thank you for reaching out to me, Vanessa! I'm not officially a CPC-A yet. Will that deter physicians from even considering my resume? Do I need a certification to look for entry level positions?
 
It's not impossible to be considered for a coding position with a CPC-A but there are very few places that will have a CPC-A as one of the required credentials in the job posting. I usually skip over job postings if they don't have any mention of a CPC-A.
 
It's not impossible to be considered for a coding position with a CPC-A but there are very few places that will have a CPC-A as one of the required credentials in the job posting. I usually skip over job postings if they don't have any mention of a CPC-A.
I also noticed that even a job posting with CPC-A as an acceptable credential requires at least 2-3 years of coding experience.
 
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