Co-workers, Part II
I have a real job and a fake job. The fake job I love, the real one, drives me crazy. The job itself is monotonous, but the people.....When I say that I am in office hell, I mean it.
The job I do requires certification. I have letters following my name. But the certification is not worth the paper it is written on. We basically know how to look things up better than the average person. Having said that, I must now tell you that I work with 6 people who believe that the business I work for would stop generating money were it not for them.
This is not a career. It is a job. That we have id numbers and annual dues does not change that. I could get a job anywhere in this industry. But I know that little kids do not grow up and say," I want to be this!". The job I do finds you. You accidentally back into it. I am a coder.
What is that? Well, when you are sick, I decipher what the Dr says you have, and assign a code to it. For instance, if you have a cold, I would assign the number 460. to the claim that is sent to your insurance company, and they too, will know that you have a cold. Simple. There are, like a gagillion different codes in the coding book, so you have to know how to look it up. That is a skill I have. I can read a diagnosis, look it up in an index, then assign the number designation. I know now that you are in awe of my ability. BUT WAIT!! There's more!!! I can also say what level of service the Dr gave you, accurately assign a CPT code to the procedure he performed on you, and I can tell how many milligrams of medicine he administered just by a sequence of numbers, that are all clearly written out, alphabetically, in a book. You're a little scared now aren't you, knowing how much power I have. I can ruin you (and get sued, too...), if I mess up just one number!
Wrap your mind around that. I'll wait.........
Now, I know that this is not a difficult job. We can all be trained to do it. We have to take a big hairy test in order to get the certification, but after that, an occasional audit every now and again, and there you go. You can write CPC (that's Certified Professional Coder!), after your name. This is not a big deal. But a few of the people I work with, take this job VERY seriously. They believe so highly of themselves that they practically want people to genuflect in there presence. One of my co-workers code for babies right after they are born. That's it. It is all how the baby is born, vaginal or c-section. That's it, 2 codes. Yet she is still mad that she doesn't have an office. Or at least a cube of her own. She has to share it with me and a DATA ENTRY CLERK. (the humiliating part of that is the sharing with me!). I am looked on with disdain normally reserved for Drs. I came to this job from a reimbursement position, not a medical, hand on office. I was looking at the money. I have little to contribute. I just don't KNOW.
The other co-works, basically the same, except that they have years of experience that I don't. We meet for meeting once a month as we are required to get Continuing Education Units, you know CEU's, in order to keep are credentials. I look around that room and all I see are a bunch of pinched looking, too small of blazer wearing, OLD women. Even the young ones look faded and washed out. I do not look like any of them. The only thing I have in common with them is that I am trying to stay awake long enough during this 7:00 am meeting to write down one measly thing I learned so that I can keep these precious credentials.
Please, someone, shot me now. Seriously. Help me.
The job I do requires certification. I have letters following my name. But the certification is not worth the paper it is written on. We basically know how to look things up better than the average person. Having said that, I must now tell you that I work with 6 people who believe that the business I work for would stop generating money were it not for them.
This is not a career. It is a job. That we have id numbers and annual dues does not change that. I could get a job anywhere in this industry. But I know that little kids do not grow up and say," I want to be this!". The job I do finds you. You accidentally back into it. I am a coder.
What is that? Well, when you are sick, I decipher what the Dr says you have, and assign a code to it. For instance, if you have a cold, I would assign the number 460. to the claim that is sent to your insurance company, and they too, will know that you have a cold. Simple. There are, like a gagillion different codes in the coding book, so you have to know how to look it up. That is a skill I have. I can read a diagnosis, look it up in an index, then assign the number designation. I know now that you are in awe of my ability. BUT WAIT!! There's more!!! I can also say what level of service the Dr gave you, accurately assign a CPT code to the procedure he performed on you, and I can tell how many milligrams of medicine he administered just by a sequence of numbers, that are all clearly written out, alphabetically, in a book. You're a little scared now aren't you, knowing how much power I have. I can ruin you (and get sued, too...), if I mess up just one number!
Wrap your mind around that. I'll wait.........
Now, I know that this is not a difficult job. We can all be trained to do it. We have to take a big hairy test in order to get the certification, but after that, an occasional audit every now and again, and there you go. You can write CPC (that's Certified Professional Coder!), after your name. This is not a big deal. But a few of the people I work with, take this job VERY seriously. They believe so highly of themselves that they practically want people to genuflect in there presence. One of my co-workers code for babies right after they are born. That's it. It is all how the baby is born, vaginal or c-section. That's it, 2 codes. Yet she is still mad that she doesn't have an office. Or at least a cube of her own. She has to share it with me and a DATA ENTRY CLERK. (the humiliating part of that is the sharing with me!). I am looked on with disdain normally reserved for Drs. I came to this job from a reimbursement position, not a medical, hand on office. I was looking at the money. I have little to contribute. I just don't KNOW.
The other co-works, basically the same, except that they have years of experience that I don't. We meet for meeting once a month as we are required to get Continuing Education Units, you know CEU's, in order to keep are credentials. I look around that room and all I see are a bunch of pinched looking, too small of blazer wearing, OLD women. Even the young ones look faded and washed out. I do not look like any of them. The only thing I have in common with them is that I am trying to stay awake long enough during this 7:00 am meeting to write down one measly thing I learned so that I can keep these precious credentials.
Please, someone, shot me now. Seriously. Help me.
posted by Momcani at 1:30 PM
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