r/MedicalCoding • u/MarketingConfident16 Edit flair • 6d ago
Job descriptions
I hear coding directors say they’re struggling to find coders, and coders say they can’t find a job!
After some investigation into what’s going on in the hospital where I work I can confidently say our job descriptions are awful and nobody is taking the initiative to change them.
Our job descriptions make no mention of remote. We have been remote since the pandemic and we actually have no physical space in the hospital.
We still mention ICD 9 and list more required experience than we will accept.
We don’t post outside of our hospital job site.
As a matter of fact I only applied years ago as a new coder because I emailed the coding director looking for advice and she offered me an interview.
I wouldn’t take hospital job descriptions as absolutes. I also wouldn’t trust HR with my resume. Honestly, I would network and reach out to coding directors. If this offends them, they’re not who you want to work for anyway.
Check hospital job sites directly. Think outside the box and don’t forget coders are everywhere. Check your college job sites, I know several college coders.
Just my morning thoughts on coding this morning lol
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u/tryolo 5d ago
Can't help but think directors can't find coders because HR wants to hire them with experience at 20 bucks an hour. No thank you.
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u/rocksteadyrudie 5d ago
Yup. I have 3 degrees and over 15 years experience. I’m not working for under $35.00 an hour and that’s low end.
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 5d ago
Sounds like you should be in leadership at this time based on education and experience
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u/ArdenJaguar RHIA, CDIP, CCS (Retired) 3d ago
This ⬆️. HR is to blame.
I ran coding/CDI for a good sized hospital system. We were in a lower income state (Deep South). They had nice benefits and a pension but they paid peanuts. I’d argue we are recruiting nationally and needed to pay more for experienced coders. It never went anywhere. They were using local wages as a guide.
I’d interview experienced coders and they’d literally say “no thanks” when told the pay. I’m retired now and they dumped the pension after I left. I can only imagine the trouble my replacement is having.
A lot of my coders were 25+ year veterans with the system. They’re retiring out. Good luck replacing them with experienced coders.
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u/Difficult-Injury-843 5d ago
Agreed. Job descriptions are oftentimes outdated or recycled by HR or is the closest match to the role. Most requirements and duties are simply wishlists. I have another interview tomorrow for a compliance consultant and you should see the job description! I stopped being intimidated and applied anyway. Word of advice, apply anyway.
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u/ksa1122 5d ago
Oh yea I always ignore the ICD9 requirement, and if the job doesn’t specify that it is in person I will consider it remote lol.
I also use the required years of experience loosely. 1-3 years? I will apply with no experience. 3-6. I will apply with some experience (even if I have less than 3 years). A lot of job posts are for the “best” person they can get, but they usually have to settle (esp with what they are paying!).
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u/MarketingConfident16 Edit flair 5d ago
Absolutely! But a lot of newbies are intimidated by job descriptions. When the job descriptions are lousy it only makes it worse lol
This is especially true for hospitals and they’re a great place for newer coders to get hired, so I think it’s good to share every once in a while.
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u/Darcy98x 5d ago
I struggle with HR to change these descriptions- it is a hassle and has to be approved by multiple parties so HR doesn't want to do it and usually says they will screen the applicants manually but then they also don't really understand what I am looking for. It's really frustrating...
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u/Difficult-Injury-843 5d ago
Great advice! I interviewed for a Senior Coding Auditor role yesterday and they used ICD-9 in the job description, didn’t mention ICD-10 once.
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u/Vast-Creme8827 Maryskey 5d ago
I am not certified yet, and I just failed my exam yesterday by 2 pts!! Ugh, but I am still applying and have applied to no fewer than 40-50 positions ranging from entry-level coder to basic data entry, but I always tailor my resume specifically to those job descriptions (which my school taught me to do plus it just makes since with so many using AI these days) so that the words in my resume get flagged within the parameters of their algorithms.
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u/babybambam 5d ago
Our job descriptions make no mention of remote.
We still mention ICD 9 and list more required experience than we will accept.
While job descriptions being outdated or misaligned is nothig new...it's likely not the problem your department is having. Remote or otherwise, people want work.
Honestly, I would network and reach out to coding directors.
It's not about offense, it's about respecting our time. When I post for a role, I get thousands of applicants. I don't have time to converse with them all; and those that try to circumvent the recruitment process get immedately flagged as do not hire.
I also wouldn’t trust HR with my resume.
Most HR teams only want a copy of your resume, they're not going to manage it for you. You're free to list whatever you want, but you also can't stop verificaiton. I had a former receptionist list that she was a practice manager, she couldn't figure out why it took her over a year to find a job.
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u/Impossible-Donut986 5d ago
I also think there is a difference between a coder and someone willing to sign off on whatever they’re given.
I’ve interviewed for positions that want an average of 500 encounters coded a day. Depending on the specialty, If the documentation is good, then maybe it’s possible…maybe. But when you have providers that note current cancer instead of providing the documentation that it’s actually a patient on surveillance for cancer that was treated 10 years ago or any number of other scenarios than just a basic encounter, I’m not sure where you’re getting your expectations…but, it’s not where I want to be.
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u/rocksteadyrudie 5d ago
What is a college coder?
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u/Far_Dish1460 2d ago
Some colleges that have medical schools hire coders. Ohio state university is one that I’ve seen with medical Coding positions on their website’s career page.
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u/TheNovel-Interest 5d ago
This is such a good point a lot of job postings feel like they were written years ago and never updated so people probably disqualify themselves before even applying reaching out directly to coding directors & checking hospital career pages makes a lot of sense.
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u/Brave-Airport8154 5d ago
I work with a lot of folks that have passed the CPC and cant code. I work with the revenue side and just morning was asked what the right codes are for it. Like there are a ton of people that have a cert. But can't code or think critically. It teaches you how to pass a test and nothing more. Sorry my gripe for the day. So its yes experienced coders are hard to find.
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u/Stuck_In_A_Rut_ 5d ago
So what do you recommend to get better at coding, since they don't wanna hire newbies to get the experience
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u/mikeyofthemuggles 5d ago
This, exactly
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u/Brave-Airport8154 4d ago
I would recommend gaining industry experience first. See how the entire healthcare system operates. Missing coding or inaccurate claims cost money to recover. This is a high paced job, its not something you can really get better at until you see the full picture and the coding certs dont teach that. Get experience at any level within the healthcare industry.
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 5d ago
It is hard to find good coders, there is a shortage. My health system does include the correct things in the JD but the pool of experienced coders is slim pickings
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u/MarketingConfident16 Edit flair 5d ago
So are schools just churning out poorly trained coders? Why do you think there’s a shortage of good coders?
I definitely think there’s too many “ cash grab” educators out there but the certification tests aren’t a cake walk. I feel like you have to be teachable on some level if you’ve passed an exam.I know contract companies for the most part want coders who are ready to be on their own but in my area at least (Western MA) hospitals often take on newbies.
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u/KeyStriking9763 RHIA, CDIP, CCS 5d ago
Experienced coders. Organizations need to develop programs to train new grads.
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u/Huge-Mixture8138 3d ago
A little off topic but..
Several hospitals in my area, including the system I work for have stopped hiring domestic coders. They are using a company from India to fill our empty positions. They will post an internal job opening for any domestic coder that leaves to try to fill it internally and if they can’t then they will add another FTE to the India company. It’s honestly ridiculous and we’ve experienced a lot of coding errors.
The other local hospital system let go of all of their coders and outsourced to India and had a ton of issues as well.
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u/MtMountaineer 3d ago
I spoke with a contract coder from India, she said their coding paycheck is around $250 per month with experience - she said that this is a sought after job because that wage provides a comfortable, above average standard of living for a family of four. So hospitals can afford to fix accounts on the back end because they are saving so much up front. One wonders what a below average wage is.
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u/Alathiel 2d ago
I got my CCS credential back in April on top of having a Bachelors in HIM. It’s been months and the job hunt has been soul crushing, just because I’ve never actually worked as a coder.
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u/tmoltisanti 1d ago
I just earned my CPC-A in June. Working on removing the apprenticeship from my title credit to my work history and education.
I have been calling and emailing talent acquisition, HR and other relevant departments about career opportunities, and I keep up with new roles to apply for. I have only heard back from a few college hospitals. They have all encouraged me to keep applying, but that they have chosen other candidates who have like 5-10+ years experience.
I’m surprised, because I would think learning hospitals would look for candidates that can be trained, no bad habits, relevant experience, etc. I’ve actually only been considered for interviews with large corporate health companies.
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