I wish more of the medical coder students would write on the school's forum here and talk about their journey through the medical coding process...I sometimes feel alone. Not many post, which I wish all of us would post a bit more and share what you are learning and experiencing...if for nothing else, just to receive some moral support! I think we could also help each other out from time to time. I am on a "break" and focusing only on Guidelines in my CPT and I'm so glad that I'm doing it. I'm picking up little pieces of great information that I missed before. Coding is like one giant jigsaw puzzle and I'm trying to put all these pieces together. Sometimes I find that missing piece and "ahhhh" does it feel so good! Just when I think I've got it, I find another piece that closes the gap even more...and the "picture" is better visualized each time! I really hope to see more of you post here.
Hi Debbie!
I have found all these pieces but I have lost them again!!!! :-) I find that I learn stuff and then forget it. I wonder when it will all stick for good. Maybe I am too old for it to stick. I just keep learning and learning and having fun at learning but just wonder how I would do on a job. I do think I have enough of a broad coverage to maybe do okay. I could not tell you much about the Green book though. I did not like learning about insurance.....so it all leaked out. I will try and post more often. I am in the musculoskeletal system right now. Each one is a struggle. None of them have been easy. I will let you know how I did when I get some grades back from my tests.
Good luck.
I am also in the medical coding course. I just finished Chapter 2 and am getting ready to take the Turley Test 2. I've also been thinking alot about if I am too old (57) to retain so much new information. I have had to read some parts 2 or 3 times to remember what I read. I'm looking forward to finishing and finding out what opportunities are out there for me. I agree we need to support each other. I've had a rough last 3 weeks as my mother had a medical crisis and I've been staying with her day and night at the hospital. She is better and home now. She lost 5 units of blood and has dementia. Now she has lost muscle memory on how to swallow pills. I take my book and laptop with me to study when I can.
Medical coding is not easy. There are so many things to focus on. I don't think we are ever too old to learn something, I just believe we have "gifts" in areas more than others. Coding is not one of my special "gifts".This coding course has been an uphill battle from day one for me. I study almost 8 hours a day now that I'm in module 3. But I feel the coding aspect is clicking and I'm remembering things more and more. (I love it when I have a "lightbulb moment!) I think the key is not to give up I know there are some of you that this is not that difficult and may not have to study quite so hard and can retain the information, you are blessed! I'm just not one of those lucky few. I am determined to get through this and do the very best I can. If I want it bad enough, it is possible! Donna, you can do it! As with our life numbers...they're just numbers, we can make our neurons work just as well as anyone else...ours have just gotten lazy and need some training! Let's whip them into shape!
It is good to hear you are studying 8 hrs a day. I am sure I need to study more. I can tell that is what it is going to take to retain the information. I am making time for additional studying by adding an additional time block in the evening. I like the saying, "The winners are those who persevere and endure to the end." That is what I am determined to do.
Donna, if you ever need to have support or suggestions for what worked for me or didn't work, you can ask me anything at anytime. I will try to help in any way I can. My biggest thing that I really learned from all of this is keep going over each chapter in the CPT and read the guidelines, even if you don't get it this first, second or third time, it starts clicking each time you need to code something.Go over the ICD-9 Guidelines in front of the book as well. I also use the textbooks supplied by Andrews over and over to review what is in the guidelines of each of the manuals and I write in the NOTES section of the CPT for each chapter of important info that I can quickly reference. The textbooks, more or less "paraphrase" the guidelines. You may actually know this already, but it took me time to discover that. Also, remember to look at the Appendices at the back of the ICD 9, there is a wealth of help there, too. Spend lots of time discovering those two books. That's my two cents, not worth much, but I hope you find some help in that.
Good advice, Debbie! I agree. During the tests and during work we will have those two books. The more we know and love them and develop a relationship with them, the better off we will be. I waited to tab my books and had to order a brand new one just before my cpc test. Now that I have used it with the tabs and now writing many more notes in it, I feel better and it will not be so foreign to me with my CCS test. These are our tools for the trade! I plan on going back and reading the guidelines as soon as I am done with this module. It is taking all I have just to get through the pathophysiology exams and the Faye Brown. There is so much ground to cover in the pathophysiology book...page and page but I still love it. I soak up that stuff, love reading about it but then when it comes time to answer the question I have no idea. Those patho exams are hard. I know it is open book test, but they are sneaky. I do not even hurry but take my time and think I have the right answer and end up getting an 80 or 85 and that really bums me out. Now I am rechecking and rechecking. The way they ask the question is sometimes vague.
Good luck to yall
I actually think it's worth much more than two cents! I particularly liked your point about the textbooks more or less "paraphrasing" the guidelines. That's the way I learn best, getting the information from several different places so that if I don't understand it when I hear it one way, I may 'get it' using the next method. I call that 'saturation training' and we've used it since I started the school in 1990. I love this discussion!