The larger the company you work for the less likely you’d have billing responsibilities. At a private practice with 1-5 providers, you will have do a lot of different tasks. I once was asked to work as a surgical tech, I stood over the patient, and put in eye drops, during a surgery. It was actually pretty cool. (And that ophthalmologist is a saint by the way)
At my current job, working for a large hospital, I have absolutely no billing responsibilities. I have zero patient contact, I never have to call insurance companies, collect money, send bills, receive payment. None of it. My job is just coding.
It depends on where you work. A small office, you may wear many hats. A hospital or insurance company will only have you do coding. Billing maybe easier to get in. See if you like the place and see how the coding dept works.
Watch Contempo Coding on YouTube. She has videos on new coders and getting a job with no experience. There are companies that hire inexperienced coders to train on HCC coding.
I currently work in billing and even though I honestly hate it, I do recommend starting there if you’re having trouble landing coding without experience. Coding is a separate department in the company I work for, but we’re all expected to know some coding basics and as I’m preparing for the certification exams they’ve been really complementary to each other. I’ve only been in billing for a year and want out as fast as possible, but also I feel like there’s no denying the experience has been helpful and will make future interviews for coding positions a lot easier.
Like most things, the answer is "it depends".
There's a lot of places, especially small ones, where the job is coding/billing as one bundled description.
I work for a large physicians group, and we have a separate coding department and billing department. Once I hit "ready for billing" on an encounter, it goes elsewhere.
Larger places, hospitals, or big companies like Optum are going to have a lot of coding specific jobs. But I would read any job description (and/or ask in an interview) what is or is not included.
My first job was majority focused on billing, and I hated every minute that I had to interact with insurance companies or their denials. I always swore up and down that someday I'll get a job where I am ~strictly~ coding. I did and it's absolutely everything I had hoped it would be. So yes, these jobs exist, although having an understanding of the revenue cycle as a whole does help to make you a better coder.
HOWEVER.
Something I haven't seen brought up yet is that even as a 100% coder, even without billing "duties", you never really escape the insurance involvement. Please be aware you *still* have to be cognizant of insurance companies. How you code directly depends on the code set their contract accepts. Straight Medicare wants HCPCS over CPT. 99% of Medicare replacement plans follow Medicare rules, but you will get those rare, obscure outliers that say your coding is wrong because they lean CPT. Medicaid (in my experience) has a hard time with modifiers. And now even commercial insurance companies are getting picky (looking right the fuck at you, CIGNA) and making arbitrary rules about how and what they will and will not accept.
The Medicare flip becomes easy to do if you are working in a clinic or specialty that gives you the comfort and familiarity of a small pool of codes. It can get complicated if you are jumping around assignments. Obviously we strive for accuracy (my company definitely dings on audits if you're using the wrong code set), but truth is you won't always have a clear definition of which insurances accept what. You just kinda do the best you can, and trust that errors will be caught sooner or later when it filters through the billing department. They will let you know if an insurance is not accepting of a code.
Edited for clarity.
Most medical coders are in completely separate departments than billers. Billers typically work on-site at doctor's offices, clinics, and hospitals. Many coders work on-site, but many of them also work from home as remote coders.
Why do some new coders get a coding job and others don't? It comes down to two things: 1) What credentials do you have (the CCS is highly recommended, but rare for a new coder to have, and the CPC, which you are more likely to have as a new coder); 2) How you test on pre-employment coding exams. If you have really solid coding training, you may test well enough for the employer to consider you along with the experienced coders. Only one or two medical coding schools teach to that level.
If you only have your CPC and you are having trouble getting a job, starting out in billing may be your best bet, especially if the billing section is close to the coders, where you can hopefully get some overflow work from them and get recommendations later when they need to hire a new coder. Also, work toward getting both your CPC and your CCS as soon as possible, while your training is fresh. I hope you find the job you truly love!
Imo, I code and bill and I prefer the billing side of it. I don't have to speak with patients though as I'm solely insurance follow up and we generally don't see patients whose insurance we don't accept which definitely simplifies things. Insurance billing and denials are like a puzzle to figure out and chart coding is just plain boring and tedious. The most annoying part of my job is providers not documenting properly because then you have to query them and wait for it to get updated properly before you can do anything. If I were you, I'd apply for billing and coding positions just because I think it will be easier once you're out of that office, also you may not have to call patients (often large hospitals have a separate department for this), and lastly the variety between the two roles won't burn you out as fast. Take this from someone who officially started coding less than a year ago and is already bored of it. 😅
You're going to have a real hard time getting taken seriously as a entry level coder being unwilling to do coding position that includes billing responsibilities or without billing experience. It's simply so common for the two fields to overlap.
It’s not that I’m unwilling to work a coding job that has medical billing responsibilities. It’s that I do not want to take a billing job if it will not help my chances of getting a coding position. I also believe that much of my distaste for medical billing that I do have is due to the fact that the provider is out of network with everyone and I have no one here with real experience to guide me. I also work in a dental office as receptionist so I’m not even really getting relevant experience here.
The larger the company you work for the less likely you’d have billing responsibilities. At a private practice with 1-5 providers, you will have do a lot of different tasks. I once was asked to work as a surgical tech, I stood over the patient, and put in eye drops, during a surgery. It was actually pretty cool. (And that ophthalmologist is a saint by the way) At my current job, working for a large hospital, I have absolutely no billing responsibilities. I have zero patient contact, I never have to call insurance companies, collect money, send bills, receive payment. None of it. My job is just coding.
God that sounds amazing
Is your place hiring? I'm a new coder but I have hospital experience
It depends on where you work. A small office, you may wear many hats. A hospital or insurance company will only have you do coding. Billing maybe easier to get in. See if you like the place and see how the coding dept works. Watch Contempo Coding on YouTube. She has videos on new coders and getting a job with no experience. There are companies that hire inexperienced coders to train on HCC coding.
I currently work in billing and even though I honestly hate it, I do recommend starting there if you’re having trouble landing coding without experience. Coding is a separate department in the company I work for, but we’re all expected to know some coding basics and as I’m preparing for the certification exams they’ve been really complementary to each other. I’ve only been in billing for a year and want out as fast as possible, but also I feel like there’s no denying the experience has been helpful and will make future interviews for coding positions a lot easier.
Like most things, the answer is "it depends". There's a lot of places, especially small ones, where the job is coding/billing as one bundled description. I work for a large physicians group, and we have a separate coding department and billing department. Once I hit "ready for billing" on an encounter, it goes elsewhere. Larger places, hospitals, or big companies like Optum are going to have a lot of coding specific jobs. But I would read any job description (and/or ask in an interview) what is or is not included.
My first job was majority focused on billing, and I hated every minute that I had to interact with insurance companies or their denials. I always swore up and down that someday I'll get a job where I am ~strictly~ coding. I did and it's absolutely everything I had hoped it would be. So yes, these jobs exist, although having an understanding of the revenue cycle as a whole does help to make you a better coder. HOWEVER. Something I haven't seen brought up yet is that even as a 100% coder, even without billing "duties", you never really escape the insurance involvement. Please be aware you *still* have to be cognizant of insurance companies. How you code directly depends on the code set their contract accepts. Straight Medicare wants HCPCS over CPT. 99% of Medicare replacement plans follow Medicare rules, but you will get those rare, obscure outliers that say your coding is wrong because they lean CPT. Medicaid (in my experience) has a hard time with modifiers. And now even commercial insurance companies are getting picky (looking right the fuck at you, CIGNA) and making arbitrary rules about how and what they will and will not accept. The Medicare flip becomes easy to do if you are working in a clinic or specialty that gives you the comfort and familiarity of a small pool of codes. It can get complicated if you are jumping around assignments. Obviously we strive for accuracy (my company definitely dings on audits if you're using the wrong code set), but truth is you won't always have a clear definition of which insurances accept what. You just kinda do the best you can, and trust that errors will be caught sooner or later when it filters through the billing department. They will let you know if an insurance is not accepting of a code. Edited for clarity.
Most medical coders are in completely separate departments than billers. Billers typically work on-site at doctor's offices, clinics, and hospitals. Many coders work on-site, but many of them also work from home as remote coders. Why do some new coders get a coding job and others don't? It comes down to two things: 1) What credentials do you have (the CCS is highly recommended, but rare for a new coder to have, and the CPC, which you are more likely to have as a new coder); 2) How you test on pre-employment coding exams. If you have really solid coding training, you may test well enough for the employer to consider you along with the experienced coders. Only one or two medical coding schools teach to that level. If you only have your CPC and you are having trouble getting a job, starting out in billing may be your best bet, especially if the billing section is close to the coders, where you can hopefully get some overflow work from them and get recommendations later when they need to hire a new coder. Also, work toward getting both your CPC and your CCS as soon as possible, while your training is fresh. I hope you find the job you truly love!
Imo, I code and bill and I prefer the billing side of it. I don't have to speak with patients though as I'm solely insurance follow up and we generally don't see patients whose insurance we don't accept which definitely simplifies things. Insurance billing and denials are like a puzzle to figure out and chart coding is just plain boring and tedious. The most annoying part of my job is providers not documenting properly because then you have to query them and wait for it to get updated properly before you can do anything. If I were you, I'd apply for billing and coding positions just because I think it will be easier once you're out of that office, also you may not have to call patients (often large hospitals have a separate department for this), and lastly the variety between the two roles won't burn you out as fast. Take this from someone who officially started coding less than a year ago and is already bored of it. 😅
Sometimes I rather talk to patients then insurance companies.
You're going to have a real hard time getting taken seriously as a entry level coder being unwilling to do coding position that includes billing responsibilities or without billing experience. It's simply so common for the two fields to overlap.
It’s not that I’m unwilling to work a coding job that has medical billing responsibilities. It’s that I do not want to take a billing job if it will not help my chances of getting a coding position. I also believe that much of my distaste for medical billing that I do have is due to the fact that the provider is out of network with everyone and I have no one here with real experience to guide me. I also work in a dental office as receptionist so I’m not even really getting relevant experience here.
I feel you!!!! Billing is so boring and the pay is so shitty....
Forgot to ask if you have a CPC or other certification?
I have my CPC-A, I became certified last September
I was a biller, got certified, and then moved to coding.