Originally Posted by NurseinNOLA
Hi. I am an RN with 10 years NICU experience. I'm looking to get away from patient care and have been researching alternative RN positions such as case management and RN coding. I have been to some of the websites mentioned to find out where to begin but they are a bit overwhelming. Can anyone give me information on where to begin to find out about details about these positions and what I have to do as for as certifications and education? Thanks in advance.
I'll offer my two cents. I think you should go for both a case management certification and a coding certification. The two do not overlap. One gives you knowledge and skills in managing tough cases and the other gives you knowledge and skills in coding, billing, and reimbursement so that you can help your case management patients when they have insurance questions. You indicated that you already checked out some websites. Keep surfing them and you will find what you need to know. I recommend that you try to get a case management position within your facility or another facility. If there is a case management department, check with the case management director in your facility and let him/her know of your interest. Maybe if there is no full-time work, there is part-time work and you can combine that with work in your current or another area. If that doesn't work, try the insurance companies if any are in your area. As you may have seen from other threads, the most common case management certification is the CCM. You have to have one to two years of experience to take that exam. For coding, most nurses seem to gravitate to the American Academy of Professional Coders [url="http://www.aapc.com"] because the exams are not as intense as a few other organization's certification tests. You can attempt to study on your own for the coding certification, but I strongly recommend taking coding classes if you have no experience in coding. The AAPC recommendation is to have two years of coding experience prior to taking the test. The CPC is the most common test taken from the AAPC. If you decide you would like to work as a utilization review nurse in your facility or for insurance, you will find that you will become more familiar with coding and reimbursement. Sometimes utilization review is a good segway to case management. Hope this helps.
Would you like to comment?
