Medical Billing/Coding

[Raidra]

Does anyone do this sort of work? What's it like? Can you do it from home, on your own time? Or is it more like a regular job (in that you can't be interrupted)?

I'm trying to find something that I can either do at night or from home. I've been looking into various night shift things, but most of it is patient care, which I'd really rather not do.

I know I'd have to get certified, btw.

Any thoughts? :)

Thanks!

[maylips]

We own a PT clinic and have an in-office billing person and based on what she does, she could not do it from home. Well, she probably could, but it would be harder for us and take us longer to get paid so we would not hire someone like that.

However, we live in a rural area and a number of doctors do seem to use billing specialists that work on contract, so they bill for multiple offices. I know I had an issue with my insurance company and a local doctor and the lady I had to get in touch with worked out of her home. She definitely had to be available some during the day to answer calls like mine but I'll tell you that every time I called I got VM, so she either had a LOT of calls or she just never answered.

Going back to our billing person, she does a lot of electronic billing so that could be done after hours. It would require some business hours too, though, as she has to frequently call insurance companies to follow up, ask questions, etc.

Good luck! Sorry I'm not much help but since you didn't get any replies, I thought a little feedback might be better than none.

[niccig]

I looked into this. I read some comments people posted on different online forums. It seemed that the most difficult part was getting experience. Employers only want someone with experience so people commented it was difficult to get your foot in the door.

[AnnieW625]

It probably depends on the company. You do want to avoid companies that are essentially collection agencies because that can be done from home, but it's mainly paid on commission, and I hate to say it, but in my line of work (insurance adjusting) it's really no better than a telemarketing job (no offense if anyone here does medical billing collections as their career).

[jerigirl]

What about medical transcription? I know people who do that from home and just go into the office a few times a week to pick up /drop off work.

[KLD313]

I have a friend who had her own business doing this. She was quite successful for a long time but she just recently lost her last client and shes pursuing other options. I could ask her about it and get back to you, PM me if you want more info.

[Globetrotter]

What about medical transcription?

:yeahthat:

[jerseygirl]

I work in a large hospital and most of our billers/coders work remotely. All the information you need should be located in the chart and most places have some sort of electronic medical record. The hardest part as PP said was getting experience.

[ShanaMama]

I work in medical billing & actually do not work in the facility for which I bill. I am physically located at the parent company. I could just as well be in my living room or home office. However, I haven't found many employers who are interested in employees working from home. I am aware of self employed billers who work for several doctors or whatnot, but they are usually people who have several years of experience & a good reputation before they hung out a shingle. Also, the laws & regulations are *constantly* changing & I imagine it would be hard to keep on top of things if you don't have a reasonable proffessional network. At my wrokplace they are always giving us inservices about one new regulation or another.
I don't really see billing per se as the type of job that would work from home without prior experience.

What about transcription, like a pp suggested?

[lalasmama]

With the economy like it is now, I always try to caution people looking to do "quick medical training" schools/classes. In my city (large metro area), we have 6 or 7 schools that have billing/coding programs. Most are on the quarter or trimester system, and are pushing out 20-30 or so people per class. We'll be conservative, and say 5 schools on the trimester system pushing out 20 students a term. That's 300 people per year heading into the same field. There's not likely 300 new offices needing billers/coders each year, or 300 people retiring and leaving open spots, ya know?

In other words, in our area, the job market is saturated with inexperienced medical billers/coders/transcriptionists who can't find jobs because (1) they have no experience, (2) there's 300 people applying for the same job, and (3) many employers will want to see your quality of work before allowing you to attempt a work-from-home gig.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer, but I feel so bad when people hear what a great job it is (and it definitely can be!), and are roped into a program that can't make up for the lack of jobs/over-saturation of the markets. I see it everyday (literally) when interviewing for our clinic.

[Raidra]

With the economy like it is now, I always try to caution people looking to do "quick medical training" schools/classes. In my city (large metro area), we have 6 or 7 schools that have billing/coding programs. Most are on the quarter or trimester system, and are pushing out 20-30 or so people per class. We'll be conservative, and say 5 schools on the trimester system pushing out 20 students a term. That's 300 people per year heading into the same field. There's not likely 300 new offices needing billers/coders each year, or 300 people retiring and leaving open spots, ya know?

In other words, in our area, the job market is saturated with inexperienced medical billers/coders/transcriptionists who can't find jobs because (1) they have no experience, (2) there's 300 people applying for the same job, and (3) many employers will want to see your quality of work before allowing you to attempt a work-from-home gig.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer, but I feel so bad when people hear what a great job it is (and it definitely can be!), and are roped into a program that can't make up for the lack of jobs/over-saturation of the markets. I see it everyday (literally) when interviewing for our clinic.

This is one of the things I'm trying to be very careful about. The problem is, I need to find some kind of work that I can do at night or from home. Pre-kids, I was making about $14 an hour doing secretarial type work (admissions and then staffing at a hospital). I don't have the time or money to finish my BA, so it really needs to be some sort of vocational certificate for right now.

[Babymakes3]

I am a medical coding certification and other than helping someone else that did it from home I have never managed to get "in" anywhere for an actual job. This was years ago now but still. Everyone wanted experience and when you asked someone during an interview how exactly you are supposed to get experience when no one will hire you and give you a chance they just kinda stared blankly at you like they had no idea.
I did it thru our local college and we were assigned a place to "work" for a few weeks for hands-on learning, I heard that a few were lucky enough to be hired by them.