Hi guys!! I am so sorry that you guys are having such a hard time finding coding positions. I know it can be tough but there are places that you can work to help you to get your Apprenticeship removed and there are some places that also do hire coders with their apprentice still on them. I took the certification test back in 2010. I immediately took a job at my local hospital as a division clerk in the Emergency room. I let my supervisor know that I was a certified coder and took on responsibilities of inputting charges, auditing the charts for proper documentaion, level of service and correct codes and test were ordred per the documented diagnosis. I used my skills and what I had learned in my job there. I also used it as experience in reading charts and recognizing the difference in handwriting. All of that counts towards experience to remove your apprenticeship. I then moved from there to a job working the front desk in a Pediatricians office. They didn't currently need a coder, but I let them know that I had the certification. They took notice and I would be pulled to help the coder in the office to process charge sheets, I would verify insurance, assist with referrals, obtain authorizations for tests and appointments, scheduled speciliaty appointments, pre-certifications, DME's anything using my billing and coding skills. Before I left them they were going to move all the coders and billers to a central location and because I had taken the iniative and made use of my skills they were going to move me also to that location. But I found a position with Optum through a temp agency. Optum is under United Health Group and they were willing and are still willing to accept coders with an apprentice still on there certification. They like offering jobs to new coders because then they can mold them to their culture and not have hang ups and bad habits that have to be gotten rid of.
Now I don't know where you are located but if there is an Optum location near you or a temp agency like CSI, companies, the Judge Group, or Insight Global, they all work directly with Optum for coders to do Risk Adjustment coding and they do offer remote positions as well. Otherwise, I would suggest the route that I took, find a front desk or back office position in a doctor's office and let them know your certification and that you would like to help or possibly one day move into the billing and coding department of their practice. Or take a position at a hospital as the insurance verification specialist or as a division clerk or something and then work from the inside as an employee of the hospital already and speak to your supervisor, try to meet and speak to the coding department supervisor or manager and network and make those connections and let them know you want to work in there and what do you need to do to get into the coding department. All the while the other experience in the front desk or back offie will count and help you remove your Apprenticeship.
But I just want you guys to stay encouraged and know that it is possible to get a position and move forward in this career as a coder. Just don't give up. I didn't and by June 2013 I had my 2 years of experience and I had a job through the Insight Global temp agency working with Optum as a coder. And don't be dissuaged by the fact that it's a temp agency, many of the people I started at Optum with through the temp agency have moved on and are now supervisors and trainers, full time employees at Optum. Since then, my career as a coder has steadily progressed and I have grown and learned many new skills. Just don't give up, stay encouraged.
Katrina
