When you've finally completed your training in medical billing and coding, chances are that you'll be eager to jump into the world of work and find a career that can really make you proud. However, finding medical billing and coding jobs can be incredibly difficult, as there seens to be a saturated market for young coders. It can be difficult to work your way into a coding and billing job immediately, and instead you may need to be prepared to work your way up from the bottom if you really want a chance of getting the occupation of your dreams.
When finding medical billing and coding jobs, many new professionals start off working in related healthcare fields, before using their experience as leverage to get them the job that they want. With a lucrative field such as this, it's essential to get your foot in the door early.
Getting One Foot Inside the Door:
When it comes to health informatics (The term that is used to refer to the study, management and analysis of data and health information), it's important to remember that coding and billing does not cover the entire range of potential jobs. There are many positions that can support health providers and help them in running practices. If you aren't immediately successful at finding medical billing and coding jobs, try taking a position at the front desk of a physician. Make connections with doctors and find out if they are hiring, or know of anyone else that might be. You may also decide to get some work in medical records, such as in a front office position or receptionist job. This is a somewhat indirect way of approaching coding, but it can be effective.
How to Approach Your Interview:
First of all, you'll need to do some research. This means learning a little more about the company that you want to apply to in the first place. When finding medical billing and coding jobs, preparation is important. You'll need to demonstrate to the person interviewing you how your skills can be beneficial to the company.
Prepare for the interviewer and company to test you as much as possible. This doesn't mean that you're going to be given a pile of multiple-choice questions to answer, but you will probably be tested on your medical terminology knowledge and how much you understand about the field. You might have to talk about some hypothetical interactions with patients to show how you would deal with certain scenarios.
Try to show off your experience as much as possible, especially when it comes to using software for billing and coding. It's a good idea to ask your interviewer certain questions too, as well as the practice management program that is used in the company and what their average case volume is. If you show that you can ask practical, serious questions, you're more likely to impress the person who is interviewing you. You might also want to talk about your goals for the future, to make sure that your ambitions align with the goals of the company.