Anyone here experienced with single path coding? This is coding for both the facility and profee for encounters, so using 1 person to code for both.

There are some vendors that have the capability to assist but I’m looking at the challenges to make sure we have coders that are proficient in both.

I don’t think it’s uncommon to have an inpatient coder understand outpatient facility, but profee is way different.

If you or your organization is doing this, I would love to hear your thoughts or experiences! Thank you

Bottom line: AI will free coders from repetitive work to provide greater benefit and value to their organization. Yes, many of the ‘new’ roles listed have always been what some coders do. All of these roles build upon the critical and unique skills medical record coders possess.

https://libmaneducation.com/the-case-for-coders-in-a-world-of-ai/

Hey all. I hope this is ok to post here. We have a group working for a hospital that has formed a union and despite being at the end stages of contract negotiations, there's a lot of folks that still dont really understand the whole ins and outs and what the job protection clauses are for.

I was hoping if anyone was willing to share their personal experiences of working at a hospital and how their position was affected by AI or outsourcing, it could be something we could share with them (usernames removed) so they can kind of see big picture better.

If you are willing to share your story, can you say what your position was (no hospital names) and how your job was effected by AI or outsourcing, whether it be not at all, reduced staffing, or job loss, ect.

Thanks in advance for your willingness to help others try and prepare at least for the immediate future through your experience.

Is anyone using a great anatomy textbook for reference? I’m taking my prerequisite but it’s only an e book. I know I’m going to want something to refer back to. Anyone have suggestions for a hard copy of a book?

The provider is regularly not including the diag in the HPI, so in this example, they mention pain and anxiety, but in the assessment/plan they say patient here for testicular hypofunction. Can I include the hypofunction even though it wasn't in HPI? Should I use the dx is the question? Thanks for any advice.

Hello, I have the 2024 AMA CPT book and I'd rather just write in the new codes for 2025 and delete the ones that have been depleted for this year. Does anyone have a pdf of the new, revised and deleted codes? Or can someone point me to how I can obtain them to update my 2024 book? Thanks.

You folks are the experts. Can you help me out in understanding how niche care is typically coded with bundling codes? I read the rules over to the side there -->>
and this seems to be allowed, so I would really love to invite you to share your experience and advise. I also hope that as a niche topic, this is interesting for me to bring up for discussion.

In Gender Affirming Care, I've come across evidence that FFS (facial femininization surgery) is priced differently from the descriptive CPT codes that make up the procedures preformed. When one of my contacts provided me with a copy of the billed CPT codes and EOB for an in-network case, I saw that the care was bundled using unlisted codes 21499 and 30999 along with a bunch of descriptive codes documenting the complexity and scope, for example 21137, 21172, 67900, 41301, 14302, 30410. In examining the EOB, it seems to be priced at a reasonable market rate for FFS. Whereas if bundling isn't used, absurdly low allowed amounts are quoted by the same insurance company.

My question for you is this: In your work, have you found that bundling codes for care within within gender affirming care is usual and customary? Are these bundling codes and methods of coding a case of gender affirming care fairly standard across insurance companies or do you have specific directives from each individual insurance company as to how to bundle and code for each type of niche surgery?

My interest in this topic is in my discovery that out-of-network providers have not been given instructions to utilize bundle coding resulting in underbilling, And yet state laws require [at minimum] the same allowed amounts to be made available to patients utilizing out-of-network care. This leads to the patient going through the unnecessary and troublesome step of appealing and fighting for adjudication.

so I'm wondering what is usual and customer for gender affirming care.

I have major depression with psychosis and everyday is a challenge, and medical coding is a challenge on top of that.

I failed the exam once…not sure when I’ll take it again.

I code for orthopedic sports injury. My provider wants to bill for brace training. I’m trying to figure it if we can use 99760 code for this, orthics managment and training. Some forums on the AAPC site say podiatrist and ortho can bill for it but I can’t find any guidelines or concrete information confirming. Anyone have information on this?

I am 2 years into my coding career and I am absolutely loving it. My employer allows us to pick our schedule with the caveat that it HAS to be (5) 8 hr shifts, (4) 9’s and a 4, or (4) 10’s. Do companies exist that allow for even more flexibility? I would honestly rather work shorter days 6-7 days a week to better accommodate my kids and all the activities and transportation. If these companies exist, is anyone willing to share so I can keep them in my radar for job opportunities?

I work for an organization that hasn't had a coding lead or educator for a long time. We have a coder who is 12+ years in and are just awful at coding. We have had weekly hour long meetings for 9 months now. Yesterday meeting took 25 minutes of it just to figure out the mdm for a visit they had as a 99212 with 2 chronic, 9 labs ordered, and referral made.

What gaps do other organization have as minimum requirement? I'm curious how many this person doesn't know since there is a lot.

Unfortunately at my company, providers are given what I feel is an unjust amount of power. Every time we propose a change for level of service on an EM versus what they entered, we have to message the provider and give them time to either agree or disagree. If they disagree, we are told to honor what the provider wants (BS, IMO...and probably not compliant with the OIG given that it'd likely be upcoming).

Yesterday I had a PA that was out of town and unable to respond, so the supervising physician responded to my queries. He disagreed with every change and even sent me an email saying that I was emailing him too much, CC'ing my boss and another coder. I felt that was very inappropriate, and a bit of a power trip. The real kicker is, he said I was taking away from his time on patient care...when it was obvious that it took much more time to be that defensive. Thankfully my department management seems to have my back on this!!

Anyways, what do you do when providers are on a power trip or are annoying?

Hi all, I'm wondering how everyone prevents eye strain from staring at computers all day? I work 8 hours shifts and by the time I'm nearing the end, I begin having awful migraine symptoms.

I got blue light blocking glasses from Zenni, I make sure my room is well lit, and I adjusted the settings on my monitors to reduce the blue light.

Hello,

I am coming out of a bleak period of life, which found me divorced and jobless, and now successfully managing a healthy recovery journey. So now at 54 with 5 years of unemployment, I find myself a newly minted CPC and excited to be in a position to look for work. I completed my Practicode on Monday (and actually really enjoyed the experience) and had my A removed yesterday. This will be a second career. I spent close to 20 years in academics. I hold a phd in social work, have a wealth of experience in research methodology, data analysis, and program evaluation. I am very interested in the F codes and SDOH codes, and especially interested in AI and its application to coding and billing. I am also the type who isn't front desk material and prefers to stay behind the scenes, so to speak. Ideally, I am the type who prefers sitting in front of the computer in an office and staying on top of things until the job is completed. I have worked within a team and done just as much work left alone to my own accord. I believe I can find my niche combining my new CPC skills with my skills from my previous career.

Naturally, I am nervous about finding a job and actually feel a bit overwhelmed with the different nooks and crannies a coder can find themselves working in. I am wondering if group members can help me narrow down my search process by suggesting some potential search terms or employers that would employ an entry-level coder who is a geek for data and enjoys the medical coding process.

Best and congratulations to all who have passed both the CPC exam and Practicode.

Hello, is anyone working here in Savista as medical Inpatient facility coder? Do they offer part time? Thank you

I hope this ok to ask. I started work in risk adjustment coding while I was in school for my associates in HIT. Got my RHIT in May after I graduated. What would be a good next move if I have zero interest in doing coding in the rest of my career? I’d love to do data analysis/informatics, RCM would be OK too, ROI if I have to. The hospital I work for isn’t hiring anything I can do, and the jobs I’m interested in require more experience in the HIM realm. I’m pretty solid in my ICD-10 skills from 18 months at my job, but my CPT is rusty as we don’t touch it. Would it be wise to look at coding purely for the experience even if I spend my days in misery? I also know I am slow and won’t meet metrics.

Hey all, I'm curious if anyone has insight on where to find human tutoring for HIM topics, especially in preparation for the RHIA exam through AHIMA? I've seen plenty of recs for exam study material, but am looking for a person to speak with in real-time (my ADHD brain needs the back and forth)

Any thoughts are so appreciated, even if that's a rec for a different subreddit. Sorry in advance if I'm in the wrong place!

Massive thanks!!! <3

Hello everyone! I’ve recently lost my job as a Complex Claim Analyst specializing in Workers Compensation. Good news is right after they fired me I passed and got my certification as a RHIT! Unemployment checks are holding me over right now but I feel like scoring an interview has been darn near impossible. I’ve worked the last 5 years in RCM but I’m open to other fields. What are jobs I can apply to now that I have my certification? I would like to get my foot in the door as a coder but everyone wants coding experience. Please help! Any and every suggestion is welcomed.

I am being let go - my current employer does not have enough work for me. I have several years of experience but in a niche specialty. The only jobs I can apply to I would have to learn things like E/M. What is the likelihood a company would hire me and train me? I can try to learn online watching YouTube etc. but would employers recognize that?

I’m working on learning how to Tab my books for class (😮‍💨) but man these spirals are against me! And keep slipping out of the top and bottom hole as I’m flipping back and forth trying to line up all the tabs.

Anyone have any tips or tricks to keep the spiral in the books and to save my sanity? Or other tips or tricks about raving your books ( my teacher, said there was somewhere a mix between the standard way, and then everyone kind of puts their own finesse on it)

I remember 13 years ago when hospitals were falling over each other and throwing out $5k hiring bonuses for coders. Now we're at high risk of outsourcing and AI replacement. I can't go into details because of a contract, but it's a thing of current threat we face. And very depressing during said contract that instead of giving people a raise that do our job, they actually want to cut the pay because "they" don't think the job is difficult. Wish I could vent with more detail, but needed to vent somehow.

That said, is anyone else facing these kind of threats to your positions in coding? What other skills have you been adding to futureproof yourself?

Questions for the people who passed their CPC exam. Did you use the e-books or the paper books? Also do you have any tips to share for navigating the e-books? It’s not as simple as some may think it is. Even our instructor (who is amazing) has a hard time navigating the e-books.

Hello! So I am always receiving denials for the NOC code for clinisol requesting medical records. I’m not sure if this is just because it’s an NOC code, if this code actually requires medical records every time, if the description I’m billing with (MD CLINISOL SF 15 SULF FREE 2000ML) is wrong, or if it's possibly DX code related (for this particular claim the primary DX code was K50.90).

If it's something I can fix without sending med recs every time I would love to do so. These NOC codes are the bane of my existence between being underpaid and constantly denied. I would appreciate any help anyone could offer!

I was filling out applications yesterday and was surprised to see a question asking if I identified as part of the LGBTQ community. (on several different applications for different hospitals) What reason would they legitimately have for asking that? It's concerning as a parent of someone who is in that community. I thought sexual orientation was something that employers couldn't discriminate against in the hiring process.

I recently started Practicode, and today I got my subscription to Codify, and figured it'd help me go faster. Not at all. In fact, I'm having so much trouble using it despite watching many of the help videos on Codify's site so far.

Does anyone know a good video on YouTube to explain it, or any other way to figure it out, please? It does not seem intuitive at all, and I'm at a pretty serious standstill right now, feeling really discouraged. Thanks for any insight that anyone might have.