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Medical Coding Work Environment

The medical coding job involves medical office work. Typically you wear casual office attire rather than scrubs, have a radio with headset, a phone, lots of pencils, paperclips, a favorite mouse pad, and a computer. You pull medical charts and analyze the entries. You sit, get your breaks, get up, walk around, and you sit again! Often, your work area is somewhere in the back away from the public's eye. You may be in open-air desk area, or have your own cubicle, or share a larger cubicle with other coders. If in a hospital, your office may be in a basement, or at the far end of a long corridor in the administrative/medical records area of the building. You may have windows, or no windows. 

Working With People...

Contrary to popular belief, medical coding is NOT a job for someone who doesn't like a lot of pressure, and social interaction. You will need to answer phones, and interact with people at insurance companies and patients who call in with questions on a daily basis. Your communication will be either directly over the phone, or via written communications, such as letters, forms, and emails. When communicating with others, medical coders must always project confidence and professionalism, and remain friendly, professional, and calm.

"Take-a-break", a guest at our Medical Billing Community forum shared the following advice for medical coding professionals: "For medical coding, you better have a passion for learning about diseases, anatomy, medical techniques, surgical terminology, and medications, etc.! I can't emphasize this enough."

Did You Say Talent, or Training?

Some people are just naturally talented. They have a great sense of responsibility along with excellent organizational skills, and are able to communicate well with people from all walks of life. These qualities are important and will go a long way in this field, along with being a natural-born talent.

"Take-a-Break" Says: Experience Counts!

Some inpatient charts are very long. You might have to start one in the afternoon and have to come back and finish it the next day. Surgeries were the most difficult for me. Also determining when something was a complication vs. an adverse effect of a procedure requires special knowledge. I am just trying to demonstrate how involved this is.

After finishing the medical coding program at a community college, it took me a year to get a job. There is a high demand for coders, but most employers want experienced coders! Couldn't even volunteer anywhere unless I had experience.

It is difficult to find a job where you only code one specialty, like only cardiology, or only radiology. Most places expect you to do a little of everything, inpatient and outpatient. If you are coding in a hospital that has switched to EMR, chances are good that you will be responsible for only a specific number range of codes, as the coders are highly specialized.

I had to pass the CCS (Certified Coding Specialist) test to even get an interview.

By Take-a-break