With so many certificates to choose from how to decide which one will work best for me. This is a leading query of students who wants to become certified coders. With certificate bodies offering certification in inpatient, outpatient, radiology, anesthesia, etc. which would be the best certification, which will boost my resume. Lot of confusion for a new student.
Experts advice the best certificate is the one which works out best for you. Well, it seems experts are here to add more confusion. So actually how one decides which is the best certification because not only these certificate exams are expensive, one needs to burn the night lamp in order to clear these exams.
Veteran coders address this issue and advice that students should meticulously plan and before taking any decision they should check local job portals. Students should look in job portals about openings in the field of Medical Coding and observe which certification these companies are asking. When all is said and done, it will be the healthcare industry which will offer you job and not the certification bodies. Hence, students should plan smartly and do an industry research about certifications which are in much demand.
If you are totally new to this field, taking an appointment and meeting an HR of a healthcare company is not a bad idea. You can request an HR to advice you about certification which are in much demand and the certifications for which companies are offering higher salaries.
In India, Medical Coding job are offered in companies only i.e. on site. Whereas, in US one has lot of options to choose from. In US coders can work from home, in physician’s office, clinics, hospitals, and insurance companies. Home-based coders would probably require to do medical billing also, hence a certification in Medical Billing would also be helpful for home-based Coders.