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Determined1

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I have a diploma in medical coding and I have been working in a specialist/general surgeons office since graduation (16 months). I am wandering if anyone can give me some suggestions on how to get experience with inpatient coding. I have been told inpatient coders make more money and I am beginning to think that is the way I want to go.
I have no certifications yet.
Thank you,
Shari
 
ShariSch said:
I have a diploma in medical coding and I have been working in a specialist/general surgeons office since graduation (16 months). I am wandering if anyone can give me some suggestions on how to get experience with inpatient coding. I have been told inpatient coders make more money and I am beginning to think that is the way I want to go.
I have no certifications yet.
Thank you,
Shari
Click to expand...
So, am I right in thinking you only want to do inpatient coding because they make more money?
Well, you are correct, they do make more money, but there is a very good reason for that; IP coding is notoriously difficult. Couple that with the fact that not only do they have to learn ICD-10 diagnosis codes, they have a whole new set of procedural codes to learn which a physician coder does not.
I suggest you either look on the AHIMA website for direction and study guides for their CCS exam (very difficult by the way), or consider purchasing the AAPC CIC study guide so you can see what IP coding involves.
In addition, take little steps first though, and learn about physician(CPC) or OP facility coding(COC), and get a certification in one of these. Neither are terribly difficult in comparison to the CCS or CIC.
Good luck in whatever you decide.
 
New Coder wanting inpatient experience

Well, you are kind of right. I just want to make the right decisions now to make my future successful. And, Yes, I would love to make good money! I was a stay at home mom and lived on one income for a long time and I am pretty tired of scraping for everything. I guess I just want to do it "right" the first time. Does that make sense? I know inpatient coding is more challenging so I am thinking it may be more appealing to me as well. I kind of get bored at the job I am at now. Is that normal?
My ultimate goals are: I want to work from home and make good money:D!! LOL!!! Is that too much to ask? :confused::) HaHaHa
No but seriously, that is what I want for my future.
 
I work for an insurance carrier. After seeing many 3, 4, 5 and 6 page UB's I decided I will not be looking to get into any facility type coding any time soon.

Billers are making more than coders now as well so you may want to check that out.
 
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May I ask about your comment in ref to Billers making more money than coders please... I do billing & coding for an Urgent Care Facility and make $20 an hour... is that considered the median?
 
My administrator asked me to find out what ICU coders are making per chart. Do you have any idea? Thank you in advance.
 
keishamarie said:
May I ask about your comment in ref to Billers making more money than coders please... I do billing & coding for an Urgent Care Facility and make $20 an hour... is that considered the median?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure of the actual salaries. It was mentioned in my CPC boot camp done by my local chapter and also through a separate company I'm doing my training through. Although looking at the stats on indeed I can see why ShariSch was looking at inpatient.

Although looking at payscale.com it is listing coders as making more than billers. national average is about $18 an hour for CPC and $16 for medical biller. Obviously doesn't take into account years of experience and geographical area.
 
CodingKing thanks for your responses. Can I ask where are you located or where did you do your boot camp? I want to do a boot camp for my certification too...now I just need to figure out which certification to go for. That is why I asked about inpatient coding in the first place. I don't want to pay for a cpc and then pay for a coc or ccs and have to keep ceu's up for two certifications.
 
I'm in Worcester, MA. My local chapter did a CPC boot camp back in August as part of their push to get people certified before the test is in ICD-10. I was barely 1/2 way through my training but did it anyways because it was cheap $150 when usually these things can cost over $900.

if you don't have CPC I'm not sure its a good idea to jump up to COC or CIC. Really its only 4 extra CEU every 2 years for each additional credential so don't even worry about that part
 
CodingKing what do the boot camps consist of? Like how many days a week and how many hours? Do you go to a class or is it all on computer? I got my diploma in Medical coding by on-line classes, I think I would like some kind of actually instructor interaction for the "boot camp", if possible. I don't even know if boot camp is the correct verbage. I am just kinda looking for a crash course.
 
One of the local colleges allows the Worcester AAPC chapter to have a room free of charge. They did it in the same room they have the chapter meetings in + the chapter sponsored testing days. We arranged the tables in a circle so she could see each of us for interaction (normally she said she would walk around the room but had just gotten out of the hospital)

The one I went to was 2 days over a weekend. 10 hours a day. Usually these are broken into 3+ shorter days instead of 2.

Went through the CPT book from cover to cover going over all the sections that are likely to be on the test, What to highlight, sections that may be too confusing etc. We did the same for ICD-9 and HCPCS. There was also discussion of time management strategies. There were some split into groups activities and we had a practice questions and worksheets to practice what we were going over.

I also have one online through the company I'm getting my training for so I wasn't going to attend the live one but the Local chapter president (who works at my company) said I should do the live one as well as the interaction can be helpful vs watching the pre-recorded videos my course includes.
 
That is EXACTLY what I am looking for!!!!:eek: How much did it cost? I have emailed the presidents of AAPC of the two largest cities around me and they both told me to call a college in one of the cities (Omaha, NE). I am waiting for a response. I am praying I can find something like that. I remember waaaaayyyyy more when I do things hands on.:D:)
 
At this point I am even fine with waiting until the first of the year so I don't have to pay for two tests (Icd 10 proficiency and CPC)
 
I heard back from the college that has these courses and the only thing they have set up is an 11 week course. Can anyone help me with where I can go to search for boot camps?
Thanks!!
 
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