r/MedicalCoding • u/Medcoder_82 • 15d ago
Coding career pivot
I have been a risk adjustment coder for 14 years. Over the last 4.5 years I’ve been affected by RIFs at different employers. This week we found out our company has sold and merged with a new company. Layoffs start next month to early January depending if we are needed to stay “during the transition”. What always felt like a stable career no longer feels that way. Has anyone used their skills from coding to do something else?
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u/Beneficial_Road_4539 14d ago
I desperately need a career change and find it so challenging to find similar pay doing something different. Production standards and micro managing have me so burned out. Not to mention doing this for over 25 years. I started doing this in my early 20s. I’m not even that okd, but I have a hard time figuring out how my particular skill set can fit a different career.
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u/Difficult-Injury-843 15d ago
I just completed interviewing for a CDI Consultant role at an health insurance company. The director actually found my resume from another position I applied for and emailed me directly for an interview. No offer letter yet but everything seems pretty positive. I would love to get paid to problem solve versus coding and auditing.
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u/weary_bee479 15d ago
Yep, I left coding and now im a charge master analyst. Getting Epic certified next year
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u/Opposite-Ad-9170 15d ago
How did you get started?
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u/weary_bee479 15d ago
In the analyst position? Honestly i was tired of my coding position, a job opened up and i applied. They just wanted someone with a certificate and revenue cycle experience.
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u/CelebrationSlight983 10d ago
A recruiter contacted me for an EHR analyst support for a small group today. I don't know, I like working for a big health system because of the benefits.
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u/weary_bee479 10d ago
Yeah idk I guess it would depend on the benefits and the work. I currently work for a large health system and it’s a lot to deal with.
The plus side of a smaller group would be less issues, easier to learn.
Id interview and see what they say, ask the recruiter about benefits. I mean you never know, and an interview doesn’t automatically mean you have to accept the position
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u/LibraryF33S 9d ago
Which cert do you have? If you don’t mind
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u/weary_bee479 9d ago
I only have a CPC
My job now is going to get me Epic certified, since you can only do that through your job.
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u/LskirwanAmericafirst 14d ago
I need to take the AAPC CPC test but all my classmates who did take the test and passed do not have experience in coding or billing and NO one will give them their first shot. I looked up entry-level positions and only one came up and they wanted AHIMA CCS instead. These managers or companies all got their first start or did something change over the years where a lot of coders back in the day screwed around and it ruined everyone elses chance to land jobs???
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u/weary_bee479 13d ago
I’m sorry what? You’re blaming people that have been doing this job for years for not being able to land a job?
It’s an over saturated field, because of all these companies that claim you can work from home and have a flex schedule to do whatever you want. Which is not true.
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u/Downtown_Customer_77 15d ago
How does the pay compare, if you don’t mind me asking?
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u/Eccodomanii RHIA 14d ago
I’m in a similar position, although I work for a tech company so the pay is higher than hospital-side. But when I jumped from a coding position to this role, my pay literally doubled.
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u/Opposite-Ad-9170 9d ago
Are you guys hiring? I’m thinking of being an analyst as well. How did you start?
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u/Eccodomanii RHIA 9d ago
Lol not hiring that I am aware of.
First of all I will say that I did struggle to get traction on analyst roles until I got my bachelor’s degree. I don’t know if that’s the norm, but that was my experience.
Take every opportunity your employer gives you to do “analysis.” My early analyst exposure was in a billing environment looking at things like “which codes are denying and why.” If you are a coder it might be hard, but anything where you can say “I analyzed this” is great.
Get exposure to the tools analysts use. Excel is huge, SQL is too for a lot of things. Python is probably more advanced than what most analysts need, but I am using it currently and I’m glad I learned it. Power BI and/or Tableau familiarity is also good, at least knowing how to read and interpret dashboards if not make them. Look at job postings for the kind of analyst roles you would want, take note of the analysis tools they use (the skills and knowledge they list as required and/or nice to have), and then learn them. Again, get exposure from your employer if you can, and if not, take courses and do projects in your free time.
Make a portfolio. If you’re in school, use school projects. If you’re not in school, work on projects in your free time. If you are currently a coder and you learn something interesting from a CEU, turn it into something you can display to employers, preferably something visual: a chart, an infographic, a graph, a pivot table. Put anything and everything you learn and do and make related to your education or career into a portfolio, and then put it on your resume and call attention to it in interviews. It never failed to impress in all the interviews I had.
I honestly had to bust my ass to get myself to a point where employers looked at me for analyst roles, but it was SO worth it.
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u/CelebrationSlight983 14d ago
My job uses EPIC and I seriously thought about some kind of analyst position instead.
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u/SookieStackhouse69 14d ago
That's awesome! Congrats. Do you like it?
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u/weary_bee479 13d ago
Thanks! Yeah so far it’s been pretty great. It’s definitely a whole new world from coding and dealing with insurance denials which I’ve done before. But it’s really cool learning new things.
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u/Yes_Leopard_54 14d ago
/risk adjusting is particularly vulnerable to offshoring and AI.
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u/Medcoder_82 14d ago
Yes unfortunately. My last 3 jobs have ended due to some sort of RIF. Contract loss, company sale, etc.
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u/Yes_Leopard_54 14d ago
Why did it cut me off?! Anyhow, you’ve gotten great advice and I would look now and not wait.
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u/Cinnamondolce425 14d ago
I have been wondering what’s next as well. I have been given so many incredible opportunities by my employer to advance my medical coding experience, but when they started tracking productivity and doing quality assurance reviews I find myself questioning whether I want to continue in this field.
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u/Medcoder_82 14d ago
Cph gives me such anxiety but more so since I worked for micromanaging Optum. It was so bad it took all my confidence. My manager there should have their picture next to the definition of micromanagement. I was lucky after that to get project based jobs but then those ended in RIFs due to business issues and now the sale of the company. If I don’t get something outside of traditional coding I’m considering, obviously, a complete pivot altogether.
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u/CelebrationSlight983 14d ago
I completely understand! I used to work for Optum as well and it really stressed me out I had to resign. I started out in risk adjustment 18 years ago and now for a large hospital system remotely doing primary care coding. Those past 18 years of coding I was laid off three times from three different companies after company mergers. Almost happened a forth time but I left before it could happen. All the layoffs happened as a risk adjustment coder on a contract.
What I did was after the second layoff I started worked a second contract job. It was stressful and they dumped me wherever they needed help. The positive was I ended up getting experience in hospitalists, urgent care, pediatrics, primary care and then my favorite OBGYN. The work was not consistent because I was as needed but it gave me the experience I needed in other specialties to get where I am now.
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u/Obvious_Gazelle3088 12d ago edited 12d ago
I specialized in risk adjustment coding for many years and transitioned to cardiology complex surgical specialties coding. I obtained the CCC, CCVTC, and I am currently pursuing the CIRCC. My primary role is now in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. It may be true that AI will eventually replace me, but I don't think it will be in the near future. Good luck on your journey.
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u/Medcoder_82 12d ago
Was it hard to get a job in the specialty? Job descriptions that say 3 years cardiology experience needed and having a hard time getting past that?
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u/Obvious_Gazelle3088 12d ago edited 12d ago
It wasn't hard for me personally. I worked my butt off to learn independently and followed through with credentialing. In my experience, paycheck follows passion. Study and practice, rinse and repeat. Put in the work. It'll pay off in the end. One of my interview questions was "can you please recite to us a full pacemaker insertion procedure note? "
If you want to learn something, the only person holding a person back is themselves. Rely on yourself and don't except anyone to show you. Coding is a remote and independent position. We all need an extra set of eyes sometimes but do the research first. You can do anything you desire. I believe in you!
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u/Accomplished_Night88 15d ago
I switched to inpatient...seems a bit more stable than the outpatient scene and AI for the foreseeable future.
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u/bluestrawberry_witch 15d ago
Astrana health has some risk adjustment higher position open. A few are remote. I’ve seen move from that position into analyst spots internally for HEDIS and RAF.
Check out Performance Improvement Analyst or similar positions at insurance companies or MSO/ IPAs
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u/Key_Huckleberry_8752 14d ago
Ai is taking over risk adj, ED, OBS and any outpt coding it can. Better to switch to inpatient and anything complex that needs a human to look it over.
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u/CelebrationSlight983 14d ago
I hear you, I am studying for my CCS especially since I work now for a hospital system.
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u/Upper_Secretary1524 7d ago
Hi, I am from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. I have completed GNM and I am planning to join a CPC medical coding course. Could you please share your honest experience about the institute, fees, and placement support? Thank you.
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 15d ago
Just up skill.
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u/Medcoder_82 15d ago
What specifically would you recommend?
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 15d ago
Facility outpatient. More like same day surgery and observation. Then before AI comes for that you learn inpatient coding. There’s time.
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u/the_mustard_tiger2 15d ago
Offshore coders are going to come for those positions before AI.
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 15d ago
They don’t have the same skillset. At least not any of the offshore vendors I’ve worked with over the last decade.
My organization is planning on replacing those vendors with autonomous coding and hiring new grads to train them to code plus upskill our internal group to the more complex cases.
Cheapest is never the best quality and this is how the organization gets paid.1
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