anyone having experience with coding?

[neatnurse30]

I read some of the posts from nurses doing coding. I thought that would be a great side job besides my regular bedside nursing job. There are classes at a nearby community college offering coding classes I could sign up for. Are there any of you nurses who are doing coding or know other nurses and can you share your experience? How do you find coding jobs and do they pay much less than nursing?

[BostonTsn]

There are definitely different ways to go with coding. You could be putting diagnosis codes on x-rays or labs all day which is pretty much using the book, or you could be doing ER coding..or like with my job you could be doing audits and then educating the physicians (which is kind of a compliance thing too) on what is required for billing certain evaluation and management codes.srugical coding...there is inpatient coding where you sit down with the patient's entire chart and code everything...definitely different ways you can go and some are more involved than others. I think it's def a good background to have.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

certified coders can make almost as much and sometimes more, depending on the type of job, than an rn. i worked as a physician coder for 2 years for a large group of er docs. at the time my only training had been one year at a vocational school coding program. they told me that the only reason they hired me was because i was an rn and had scored so highly on the coding test i had taken as part of the job application process. you know how many graduate rn have an orientation program on their first jobs? the training period for this job was 9 months! that's how careful these companies are about making sure that coders learn their jobs. if a nurse screws up they get sued for malpractice by a patient--if it gets discovered. if a coder screws up the company and the coder get fined by the government for fraud, the company can get put out of business by medicare and everyone can get put in prison. most of the coders at this er job had been trained in community college programs and were certified coders. i got hired because they hadn't been able to find and hire any certified coders. when i left there and moved i began taking coding and him (health information management--the umbrella under which coding falls) classes at a local community college. i can't tell you how much i discovered that the vocational school had not taught me! the community college coding certificate program was ahima accredited and they really taught us a lot. after taking their coding classes we were ready to sit for the ccs and ccs-p coding exams to become certified. here in california it seems like no one will hire you unless you are a certified coder. you start at $25/hour and that is just to start. with experience that goes way up. you are taught the medicare laws in school. on the job you have to keep abreast of the changes in the laws and the insurance company rules--just one of the headaches of the job. coders who becomes auditors and supervisors make much more.

as far as my experience. . .it was fun at times but mostly boring. we had a quota of charts we had to get coded each day. if we fell behind we got in trouble. we also got audited once a month for accuracy. if we fell below 95% accuracy in our coding for 3 months in a row we were put on probation. if it happened again while on probation the coder was terminated. coding = revenue for the company and they were anal about getting every penny. they also counseled the individual doctors if they did not document adequately in order for us to be able to code in order to bill for the service they had provided. if the docs didn't document, we couldn't code and bill. we could tell from the charts if something seemed to be missing from the dictation.

i became interested in him when i realized that nursing diagnoses by nanda had been assigned code numbers for computerization. when i found out nocs (nursing outcomes classification--lists of goals linked to the nanda diagnoses) and nics (nursing interventions classification--lists of nursing interventions linked to the nanda diagnoses) existed as well is when i realized that nanda had joined with medicare to do more than just shove nursing care plans (ncps) down nursing throats. computerized ncps were also being developed as part of the billing process. the people at nanda were way ahead of their time. i have no doubt that as health care in the u.s. is reformed and advanced practitioners provide care that the diagnostic codes on the ncps, nocs and nics that already exist are going to be how the money for their services are going to be billed. remember you hear me say that. nurses will be flocking to learn care planning using this system. some schools are already teaching it to their nursing students. students grump because they think they are learning the nursing process. they are, but they don't realize there is another purpose afoot that i do not think most are aware of.

[sar4tee]

I have been coding for 2 years and I like what I do. I have a good job at a good sized teaching hospital. I am responsible for the coding for an entire department, ent. I code their surgeries and I also educate the physicians on Medicare guidelines and the documentation requirements of what they are billing. I assist the billing department by reviewing cases which have been denied and there is alot more too. The reason I got into coding was that I was interested in the medical field but I didn't want to be in a clinical role. Over time working in the hospital I realized I wanted to be in it...I wanted to be a part of it. I am thankful for my coding background and I will never give up my certification. Being an RN with coding experience opens a lot of doors..there are alot of good opportunities and good paying positions for maybe later on. I have taken all my pre-reqs and most of my co-reqs thanks to my coding certificate and associates in liberal arts. I am 28 and have alot of working years ahead of me..just didn't think the coding would keep my interest until retirement and I really wanted to give nursing a chance. I make pretty good money..most likely better than average but will def be making more as a nurse even a new nurse.

I posted a new thread on this issue today. I am currently a nursing student and I am getting more interested in the non-clinical side of it. The university I attend has a course in Health Information Management which gives you the credential of a RHIA( after passing the test for AHIMA). Everything you explained is very appealing to me, but what I would like to know is there anything you did not like about your coding experience? I plan to go all out for this degree getting a Masters with the concentration in Health Information...

[Foxfour]

I have a bachelor's in nursing and an associate's in health info mgment. I didn't last long as a RHIT. Each to their own, but I found it to be extremely boring. I make way more as a nurse than I ever did as a coder. The only reason I ever pursed becoming an RHIT was because my sister in law was one and she worked from home. I loved the idea of working from home. Maybe when I semi-retired, I'll activated my RHIT license and work from home, but for now, I love my job as a nurse.

[ShayRN]

Did anyone else initially think "coding" was referring to defibrillating someone? Cause that is what I thought at first, lol.

Anyway, to answer the OP's question. I worked my way through college doing medical office billing. I also taught a class on Medicare/Medicaid billing and ICD-9& CPT coding at one point. I made nowhere near what I make as an experienced RN. I liked my job, but that was late 80's to the 90's. I am sure there are many changes since then.

[Peanut7]

Foxfour, that is what I'm wanting to do (after getting my bachelor's in nursing get the RHIT). Was your position working as a nurse and RHIT combined, like a "nurse coder" or was it just straight out RHIT?

Is it too forward to ask what the diff in pay was?

Does the HIT program teach you the actual coding well or would it be just as benificial to get CCS certified?

Do you think the program is beneficial to a nursing career for someone who may be interested in a desk job such as utilization review? Sorry so many questions! I'm just trying to find my path!

[Itshamrtym]

Did anyone else initially think "coding" was referring to defibrillating someone? Cause that is what I thought at first, lol.

Anyway, to answer the OP's question. I worked my way through college doing medical office billing. I also taught a class on Medicare/Medicaid billing and ICD-9& CPT coding at one point. I made nowhere near what I make as an experienced RN. I liked my job, but that was late 80's to the 90's. I am sure there are many changes since then.

:yeah: Too funny!!!!:yeah: