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What does a day in the life of a medical coder look like? What requirements need to be done prior to applying for jobs?

I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in Global Health. I am looking to get into medical coding, as a first step in my career. I am very lost in this field, as it seems hard to find information.

What does a day in the life of a medical coder look like?

What requirements need to be done prior to applying for jobs? I know there are certifications, so where can I get those done at?

Thank you in advance! #medicine #healthcare #medicalcoding #collegestudents

collegestudents medicalcoding
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Joanna’s Answer

In addition to Shannon's answer, sometimes the coder has to figure out the proper codes to use based on the chart notes. Back at my old office, our billers would read the charts and based on the diagnoses and procedures mentioned in the chart, they will bill the proper ICDs and CPT codes for it. Depending on the office as well, you may also have a bunch of other billing tasks to do like verify insurances and stuff, but this might be more for private practices than hospitals.
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Shannon’s Answer

Medical coding is entering data into a computer. The doctor should choose the correct diagnosis and amount of time spent with this patient, and you enter that information. This allows the insurance company to pay the doctor correctly. However doctors don't always pick the right code. A well-trained coder will be able to make corrections. There are a lot of details about what codes are appropriate for this patient & what's wrong. You'll want to take a class to learn the basics, and when things change take an update class. Look for classes that have a high rate of passing the final exam and a high rate of job placement. A day in the life is simply looking at the codes recorded by the doctor & entering it into coding software. Sometimes you'll have to verify that a code is right by looking it up. I encourage you to focus in a little more about where you want to be in a few years because there may be starting jobs that are more relevant. If you're planning to work in other countries consider learning a new language. if you're planning to work in public health policy you'll need an MPH degree (master of public health). look at the requirements for admission to some of the best grad schools in order to know what classes you should concentrate on now. look on job boards for the kind of future job you want as well, to get the kind of experience you'll need. that might suggest a different starting job than coding. or it might show that coding is exactly what you need. if you can find someone local who does your dream job, ask them if they'd give you a quick informational interview. this is where you make a list of questions about what they do. only take 15 minutes of their time and ask only the most important questions. you can answer a lot of your own questions beforehand with online research and this will keep that meeting short.
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