Further News: Medical Coders are in demand!
Medical coding is a job that is cloaked in mystery because it sounds like something that only a select few geniuses can do,
Medical coders read doctor's notes and records and they serve as a conduit between the insurance company and the doctor to make sure that doctors get paid properly. This also ensures that patients are charged properly. Improper coding results in a great deal of "overcharges" and "underpayments" for doctors and patients.
All of the "money" issues that doctors and hospitals deal with start and stop with medical coding. Having the right people on the job to check notes and records to make sure that money is flowing in the right direction is SO important. It may seem that people would want to do coding on their own because people do things like their taxes on their own, but coding is so much more complicated. Coding is an art and a science and that's why...
The good news about a job like this is that it is, in many ways, "recession-proof". There are coders who are recounting to the media that the hospitals and medical facilities they work for are cutting staff. However, the coding department is being spared. Why? Because no one gets paid until bills are put together correctly and insurance companies are informed of payments that THEY need to make as well as billing patients for their share of the costs of care.
It's no secret that coding is difficult business, but when other jobs are being cut and coders are needed desperately to make sure bills are correct...the training can be had. Short training courses can be done to get into the job as quickly as possible. Even then some training can be done on the job so people who want to get into the "business aspect" of medicine shouldn't hesitate to apply for jobs are say "I'm a fast learner!".
Hospitals aren't the only place where coders are still VERY in demand. Insurance companies need coders to review doctor's payment requests because accountability is needed on both sides of the aisle. If insurance companies are paying the wrong amounts (usually too much) then that loss of money will be reflected in higher health care costs. Coders are the last line between consumers losing money and saving money on health insurance.
Medical coding is but a stepping stone too. Some people take short training courses to get into coding, but that short training course can balloon into a Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree and a job in higher administration. People have started out at the "bottom" in coding and worked their way up in medical clinic administration where they supervise dozens of people. That level of responsibility and pay can be had by simply walking in the door and getting started.
The one thing that will stop most people from realizing their dreams is not getting started. Take a training course, get certified, get to work and see where coding can take you. Even as the economy suffers you don't have to. Go out and try to get a coding job and see where it goes. Nothing but good things can lie ahead!
