Wiki I've passed my NHA CBCS and our AAPC CPC-A but am still looking for a job - getting desperate - please help

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lizatious

lizatious

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Good morning everyone!
I have my CBCS and CPC-A and have applied for over 100 jobs in the last month and a half and not a single interview.
At this point, I'll take any coding job, no matter what they pay. I'm slowly chipping away at practicode and hopefully that with my school program hours will remove the 'a' soon.
I'm getting desperate - any help is very much appreciated.
Thank you and all the best,
Elizabeth
 
My best advice, apply everywhere and anywhere, even if it says they need 1-2 years of experience. Sometimes they take a while to reply. I just got my CPC-A too not that long ago, and I just recently got accepted into a position for coding from when I applied back in August. Just try your best, and make sure to have a lot of good references
 
Honestly it would be nice if we could have some transparency about the difficulty of gaining a coding position with a CPC-A and no experience in billing/medical office/revenue cycle procedures. Maybe prospective students could be told up front that it will be very difficult and recommended that you start by having experience in medical office procedures/billing/revenue cycle before you even learn coding. That would have been VERY helpful to know beforehand, and we might all be employed by now. I have a BS degree in health field, 20 years in direct patient care, am a CPC-A and have applied to over 90 jobs and not a single interview. So, yes, I am a tad discouraged myself.
 
lizatious said:
Good morning everyone!
I have my CBCS and CPC-A and have applied for over 100 jobs in the last month and a half and not a single interview.
At this point, I'll take any coding job, no matter what they pay. I'm slowly chipping away at practicode and hopefully that with my school program hours will remove the 'a' soon.
I'm getting desperate - any help is very much appreciated.
Thank you and all the best,
Elizabeth
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I’m dealing with the same issue not finding a job. I have applied to so many companies, but they all want experience.
 
I agree with SRM, I wish before getting my education it would have been expressed how difficult it is to find a job with the dreaded scarlet A on your certification. I would have found some sort of adjacent healthcare job to gain industry experience first. It's been a year of constant applications and either complete rejection or just don't hear anything back at all. I'm now working my way through a graduate services program offered to me by my school (I didn't do an AAPC program bc I couldn't afford the 10k tuition) and reworking my application to be more industry specific. I highly recommend reaching out to the AAPC advisors. Super friendly and helped me come up with a plan to get my A removed by submitting my 1 year of education and I'm now also working through the Practicode program to count as my second year and ultimately remove my A. Not gonna lie the program is incredibly difficult. But if I can get my A removed and up my chances of finding a job I'll do anything at this point.
 
I'm in the same boat. The school that I went to said they will help us find a job placement or at least get us a foot into the door but unfortunately after passing the exam I haven't gotten a job in coding.
 
I am in the same boat with over 20 years of Pre-hospital and clinical Medic work, both civilian and military/contracting overseas. I even looked for "Entry-Level" postings, most say 0-1 year experience, and they would take both CPC-A or CPC. What a joke! The AAPC has no answers which indicates clearly they governing body only cares to pump out as many graduates of their programs, but caters to only those already in the field. They just want $$$$. I immediately took the Practicode "apprentice" course and that did not matter either. It just doesn't make sense that AAPC propaganda claims Medical Coding is growing at rates up to 36% per year (or whatever it is now) and they are so proud to have a worldwide standard now. They make you think you have a chance, but given the amount of student graduates printed on the back of the monthly reviews, I can only guess now that the majority are already Coders and are just looking for the CPC formality to bump up their pay.

December 2023 will mark over one (1) year applying to hundreds of jobs and all being rejected. I even have the 2023 manuals sitting right next to me still fully wrapped from shipment in their plastic, never opened once. I figure, why should I? I was excited to add another title to the back of my name, but, starting 20224, I am going to scrap my dreams of working as a Medical Coder and I will never support the AAPC with my money or presence again. I will also never recommend anyone to ever get any credential from AAPC or AHIMA unless they are already working in the job title they wish to advance in. Why? Because, it seems only the AAPC and AHIMA are the governing bodies for these certificates and education in this field, but lack the resources to help their graduates land even the simplest entry-level jobs. Promoting more courses is not experience, and I did not take the CPC courses to become a Medical Biller....lol.

Good luck to everyone else, but come January I will wash myself of becoming a Coder, recycle my books, and write off the costs as a loss.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that Medical Coding just might be replaced by AI someday in the near future simply because it is pretty straight forward and follows simple, algorithmic logic. If-Then statements if you will, then the code(s) to match. So , if there will be any growing need as AAPC loves to put it, it will be replaced by AI programs at the insurance levels.
 
stoicinflux3 said:
I am in the same boat with over 20 years of Pre-hospital and clinical Medic work, both civilian and military/contracting overseas. I even looked for "Entry-Level" postings, most say 0-1 year experience, and they would take both CPC-A or CPC. What a joke! The AAPC has no answers which indicates clearly they governing body only cares to pump out as many graduates of their programs, but caters to only those already in the field. They just want $$$$. I immediately took the Practicode "apprentice" course and that did not matter either. It just doesn't make sense that AAPC propaganda claims Medical Coding is growing at rates up to 36% per year (or whatever it is now) and they are so proud to have a worldwide standard now. They make you think you have a chance, but given the amount of student graduates printed on the back of the monthly reviews, I can only guess now that the majority are already Coders and are just looking for the CPC formality to bump up their pay.

December 2023 will mark over one (1) year applying to hundreds of jobs and all being rejected. I even have the 2023 manuals sitting right next to me still fully wrapped from shipment in their plastic, never opened once. I figure, why should I? I was excited to add another title to the back of my name, but, starting 20224, I am going to scrap my dreams of working as a Medical Coder and I will never support the AAPC with my money or presence again. I will also never recommend anyone to ever get any credential from AAPC or AHIMA unless they are already working in the job title they wish to advance in. Why? Because, it seems only the AAPC and AHIMA are the governing bodies for these certificates and education in this field, but lack the resources to help their graduates land even the simplest entry-level jobs. Promoting more courses is not experience, and I did not take the CPC courses to become a Medical Biller....lol.

Good luck to everyone else, but come January I will wash myself of becoming a Coder, recycle my books, and write off the costs as a loss.
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I can completely relate to your post. I also have several years in the medical arena but it doesn’t mean anything when it comes to trying to get a coding job which to me, is ridiculous. I’ve also applied to probably close to a hundred coding jobs just in the last 5 months and NOTHING. I also wasted the money on Practicode. Now my renewal is coming up for the membership, 6 CEUs at about $100 a pop and codify renewal. I think I’ve already thrown away enough money for a career that DOES NOT EXIST FOR NEW CODERS, and I have no doubt that in the next 5 years AI will completely take over all coding jobs booting all coders out of a job no matter how long they’ve been one.
 
brandigirl1724 said:
I can completely relate to your post. I also have several years in the medical arena but it doesn’t mean anything when it comes to trying to get a coding job which to me, is ridiculous. I’ve also applied to probably close to a hundred coding jobs just in the last 5 months and NOTHING. I also wasted the money on Practicode. Now my renewal is coming up for the membership, 6 CEUs at about $100 a pop and codify renewal. I think I’ve already thrown away enough money for a career that DOES NOT EXIST FOR NEW CODERS, and I have no doubt that in the next 5 years AI will completely take over all coding jobs booting all coders out of a job no matter how long they’ve been one.
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Definitely agree 💯 it’s sad that most companies don’t even take in the consideration of new coders who is trying to gain experience, all they looking for is someone who got 10+ years of coding experience. That don’t mean they know a lot just because of the years they have to show for. I said this before they will be surprise and they missing out on new coders only because they don’t want to train somebody. Everyone had to start from the bottom, they didn’t know how to do they job til someone trained them how to do it the right way. That’s what bothers me the most. Nobody is perfect and I wish I never took this course. The only reason why I even hesitated to go into medical coding is to take my mind off of losing both parents and to still be in the medical field without doing physical work due to health issues and to be able to work from home. Time for me to find something else to do. I’m sorry to everyone that’s having a hard time finding work in the coding field.
 
Lakindrab85 said:
Definitely agree 💯 it’s sad that most companies don’t even take in the consideration of new coders who is trying to gain experience, all they looking for is someone who got 10+ years of coding experience. That don’t mean they know a lot just because of the years they have to show for. I said this before they will be surprise and they missing out on new coders only because they don’t want to train somebody. Everyone had to start from the bottom, they didn’t know how to do they job til someone trained them how to do it the right way. That’s what bothers me the most. Nobody is perfect and I wish I never took this course. The only reason why I even hesitated to go into medical coding is to take my mind off of losing both parents and to still be in the medical field without doing physical work due to health issues and to be able to work from home. Time for me to find something else to do. I’m sorry to everyone that’s having a hard time finding work in the coding field.
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I am absolutely in the same boat! My school has not done anything to help place me and I bought pracicode only to be told it won't do any good. I keep trying to find other certifications to add to my CPC-A because I do not have medical office experience. I have been a CNA in many aspects of caregiving for 20 years but does not relate to coding or billing. I am an absolute newby so I have been passed over for 20 jobs so far. I have reached out to many recruiters that have not even communicated with me at all. The amount of money spent on this career path does not seem worth at the moment. I am spending more money to keep certified than I am actually making which is nothing at the moment. Wish I would have had more clarification about what it takes to get a job in the field because I would have chosen something more attainable.
 
idahogirl41@gmail.com said:
I am absolutely in the same boat! My school has not done anything to help place me and I bought pracicode only to be told it won't do any good. I keep trying to find other certifications to add to my CPC-A because I do not have medical office experience. I have been a CNA in many aspects of caregiving for 20 years but does not relate to coding or billing. I am an absolute newby so I have been passed over for 20 jobs so far. I have reached out to many recruiters that have not even communicated with me at all. The amount of money spent on this career path does not seem worth at the moment. I am spending more money to keep certified than I am actually making which is nothing at the moment. Wish I would have had more clarification about what it takes to get a job in the field because I would have chosen something more attainable.
Click to expand...
It’s very sad that so many people are looking for a coding job. I feel like AAPC and all the rest of these companies need to be honest and upfront about how difficult it is to get hired on once you obtain your certification. Seem like everyone after money, but setting the rest of us up for failure and a setback!!
 
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