What is a medical coder?

What's it like to be a medical coder? Pros/Cons? What's the pay scale? Where's the best place to work?

• I'm going into this field because I like office type work. I'm just curious what others who are doing it think about it. If you are certified in one state, how does that work ...show more

• Answer:

  No. I am a Coder and you don't need to test from state to state. You just need the certificate to prove proficiency, and the most respected way of doing this is to get it from AHIMA.org, which holds testing for the various forms of coding in any state. But once you have the proficiency certificate, you don't have to re-test in another state. And the books you must maintain every year b/c of coding changes, as well as the costs of the tests to move up in the field are extemely expensive. I'm talking hundreds of dollars. The other thing is, is that it is very difficult finding a job. The reasons are this. Once you graduate from an accredited program, you cannot get certified for three years. This means you must have 3 yrs experience before you can sit for the exam. It is very difficult to find a job because most doctor's office want at least two years coding experience as well as other medical office experience. And hospitals for insurance purposes want certified coders. Otherwise, you can't get a job doing hospital coding. So if you can't get hired in the first place anywhere b/ c of lack of experience, you are forced to try and run your own business from home. This doesn't work either most of the time b/c most doctor's offices already are part of a healthcare network that like Medical Transcription, is done by the network company that owns them. Basically, they are all part of a bigger healthcare system that owns them. And most of the courses or schools will tell you that this skill is in high demand and you can find a job anywhere. This is NOT true. I am still struggling to find a job in coding. No one will hire you without at least two years experience, no matter HOW many forms or electronic billing that you did for classes. You would be better off going into Medical Assisting, Nursing, or some other healthcare field.