<p>Okay, I need a new career, at the age of 50+. Our community college offers allied health certificate programs, one of which is medical coding/billing. But I’ve been told it’s actually very hard to get that first job in this field, as there are way too many qualified people.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions ? I could go for my teaching certificate via alternate route (undergrad is in Science/Math) Could I learn to be a teacher ? I do not have a natural talent for it, but I’m a quick learner.</p>
<p>I should have started this about 2 years ago, so I’m mad at myself.</p>
<p>The problem with finding a job in medical coding/billing is that private practice medical offices are soon to be extinct and thus all of those office jobs. Electronic medical records provide the means for instant coding by the service provider.</p>
<p>Have you considered becoming a pharmacy technician?</p>
<p>If the medical field attracts your interest, how about radiology technician? ultrasound technician? Pulmonary technician? Many places offer programs like these as 24 month associate degrees. While medical paperwork may get automated or outsourced, patient care (especially that which helps our aging population) can’t be.</p>
<p>I am- or was- a Certified Medical Coder, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to go into the field. We live in a city that was on the cover of TIME and NEWSWEEK, with banner headlines telling the world that " (we) Had the Best Healthcare in the USA"; several years down the pike and we are in the basement of the lowest of the low. Let’s take this example:
A well-known orthopedist here has 60-75 patients on his roster for tomorrow. Early in the morning, his staff will take the cancellations off of the answering machine, and then they’ll begin calling those which they, the secretaries, have determined, “can wait”. Presto- Dr,M is left with 45 patients he is actually to see. Getting past the questionable ethics of office help triaging injuriies, one can easily determine that there is still no way Dr.M can tend to 45 patients in one day, even if that is made up of 9 hours in which he never eats or tends to his bodily functions. WHY are they seeing this overwhelming number of people? They have been forced into it because they are to put QUANTITY over QUALITY. If a certified coder actually DID what we are trained to do (yep, just like all of those questions on that 7 hour exam we have to take for our license!), each office visit would be coded correctly, based upon what the MD has actually done during said visit. So, the visit would be “upcoded” into the proper rank (say a 99214 or 15), for a base rate and then add-ons for everything done. Instead, the doctors are forced to see more patients than they can reasonably be expected to handle and all of those have a 99213 (a regular old, run of the mill, middle of the road, office call), The result is the same amount charged to the insurance companies but the result to the patient is compromised health care. Besides, the big hospitals/medical centers/group practices, would rather hire marginally educated help who have taken a 2 week course than someone who has gone through 1-2 years of extensive training and sitting for a lengthy, comprehensive exam. Why? Because they can pay them less, of course!! And, since we are now told that the only viable option to “reform” health care is to pay MDs a salary from a central “pool”, can any of us truly believe that this mess will improve??
–stepping down from my soapbox, while being careful not to smudge the new ballet flats-- I will shut up now and suggest that the OP delve into some of the great options presented here. Radiology techs can work in hospital situations or work regular, day time hours in a centralized, free-standing facility; pulmonary tech, always positions for these since they are needed in varied facilities.
Thanks for letting me spout off- it’s been building up inside for a long time!</p>
<p>BunsenBurner- as my H wrote the first tuition payment of college year 3 he commented that my son should have gone to the CC and taken the radiology and sonogram program. The program is a fraction of the cost of my son’s degree.
The conversation was a result of my H getting a rental application from 3 young men. 2 of them having good paying jobs at age 23 with no education debt as radiology techs.
My son will graduate with a BFA in Studio Art. Such an employable field.</p>
<p>mom60, you are SO right. I also taught at the local CC, adapting technical science courses for non-native English speakers and it was the Rad. Techs, from among all of the disciplines, who found jobs, good paying jobs, where they wanted to work and accomodating the schedules they were able to work- full time, part time, per diem. And the field is growing by leaps and bounds each year so it’s hard to get stuck in a rut!
(and before you ask, my health wouldn’t permit me to work in that field, even though I knew it was the best way to go. Do as I say, not as I do, as the case may be!)</p>
<p>mom60- tell your H that you go to college for an education -that no one can take from you- not a job. You can always go back to tech school for those job skills. Also- it helps to be interested in what you are doing and to challenge your brain. Those 23 year olds will be doing the same thing at age 53 unless they get more education…</p>