Hi Cherishma,
I graduated from a junior college with an Associate Degree in Health Information Technology in December 2019. I completed the coding certificate through the same junior college May 2018. I took and passed the CCS exam through AHIMA July 2018 and the CPC certification March 2019. I started out working in an inpatient mental health hospital while I was in school. It gave me a great chance to apply some of what I was learning in school directly to my job. I did not stay there long as I felt that I was limiting myself and my ability to gain experience being only mental health, no procedures, not even an EHR. I left that company in 2017 to work for a big health organization to gain experience working with an EHR. I was not in a coding role, was in medical records. In 2020, I took a position as a coder for a rural tribal health clinic. I worked there for a year until we had to move to a new area that did not have coding opportunities due to my husband's job. I worked in billing for the past two years until just this past month. I went out on a limb and applied for a coding job with the Department of Defense at an Army hospital. I honestly did not think they would even give me a chance. I had allowed my certifications to lapse due to not being able to earn enough CEU's and not being able to afford both memberships and renewals after our move. I am happy to say that I was offered the position!! I did have to move to another state for the job, in Colorado, but my husband and I were already looking at wanting to get out of the state we had been living in, California, and had actually been looking at Colorado as a place we wanted to move to. It is definitely a learning curve for me as I have not done coding for two years and have never done military health coding, but I'm coming along, and I have my dream job!!!
The one piece of advice I can give is that even if it feels daunting or like getting a coding job will never happen...Never give up!!! it can and will happen for you. It just might take a little time. I also suggest trying to get into coding in a small, possibly rural clinic or doctor's office. They may be more willing to hire brand new coders versus a big company that hires remote coders. I can almost guarantee that you will not get a remote coding position right of the bat. I don't want to discourage you, but its true. Its also better to have an in-person coding job as your first job. It helps when your newer to coding to have that team of people that you can easily reach out to if you need help. It was certainly interesting starting an outpatient coding position in the middle of Covid!! I definitely would not have wanted to go through that learning curve in a remote setting. Everything was constantly changing, and the clinic coders were adapting and learning together as a team.
Welcome to the coding world!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! What kind of training or education did you do for your coding?