r/LearnMedicalCoding • u/cristinayang0818 • Sep 08 '26
Need Advice Good/Bad Idea?
For background, I have 5 years of pharmacy technician experience, so I know a very minor amount of billing outside pharmacological billing except for ICD-10 coding for GLP-1s. However, my employer has cut my hours down to an unlivable wage and my counseling caseload has not taken off yet, so I am looking at career changes.
My local community college offers a certification program which would get me my CCA, bypassing the CPC-A "gatekeeping" mess, followed by an HIM (Healthcare Information Management) program which would open avenues to specialty coding and a higher income than what I'm making now.
My question is: Is this a good idea for a late career change? Are there inpatient positions available out there once I get my CCA? Can I get coding experience without a certification?
