There are four main steps to becoming a successful home based medical coder.
~ Education
~ Certification
~ Experience
~ Home Based Medical Coding Career
These steps are the difference between the individuals who dream of working from home and the individuals who do. While the steps are simple, each one is very important and skipping just one of them can change your outcome dramatically.
By investing time and being dedicated to each step, individual with no prior experience in medicine can achieve a rewarding home based coding career Medical Condition.
Education
Becoming a home based medical coder starts with proper education. Although the industry itself does not require any specific education. In order to be considered a candidate for a medical coding job one of the two specific certifications must be obtained. Education should be prepared for individuals for these certification examinations.
While many educational establishments offer a myriad of coding and billing courses, degrees, and many certificates either partially prepare individuals or require over abundance of unnecessary educational courses.
When considering learning an educational course to ensure the following:
~ Education should be focused mainly on medical coding and incorporate only a small portion of medical billing.
~ The course should specify individuals for CPC certification through any medical coding community.
Courses should be around 80 contact hours in total
~ Education should focus 80% of the CPT class time medical coding book and the other 20% on both ICD-9-CM and HCPCS books v
~ Basic anatomy and medical terminology should be either covered in the class or pre-requisite (these should be the only pre-requisites however)
Not only is it required, but it is certainly not required. Obtaining coding certification and a successful home based job coding is certainly possible by taking the right six month coding course.
Certification
The proper education course will be fully prepared for students to sit for one of the two medical coding certification exams. While more than two types of people are recognized and sought after by the nationwide CPC and CCS certifications.
The CPC Certified Professional Coder and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). The second type of certification is CCS, which stands for Certified Coding Specialist. This is the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
Each certification exam takes 5 to 6 hours. These exams are not cheap and can be very overwhelming when not prepared properly. Finding an educational course that prepares individuals specifically for these exams is essential.
When considering which of the two certifications to get it is the decision on both experience and education.
The CPC offered by the AAPC is the best starting point for individuals who have a minimum or no medical coding experience. This exam is a bit easier and easier to examine two attempts for one price. It also caters to individuals without experience (who are labeled “apprentices”) by providing them with job opportunities and externships.
The CCS certification through individuals who have had years of more than medical coding experience. While some individuals without prior coding knowledge have managed to pass this particular exam on their first attempt, many do not. This exam is also slightly more expensive and offers examining only one attempt to pass.
It is strongly recommended for individuals just starting out in the medical coding field to first obtain the CPC certification through the AAPC, to work in the medical coding field for some time, and then if they desire dual certification.
