Article Highlights
New coders face a ‘catch-22’: they can’t get hired without experience and they can’t get experience without first being hired. It is time to rethink your hiring criteria.- Newly-certified coders just passed rigorous exams covering every code set and clinical specialty. Their skills are sharp.
- First-time coders adapt to your processes and expectations. Hiring a new grad is your chance to shape your coding team to fit your organization’s needs.
Almost every coder has faced the same situation. While looking for their first coding job, they are told:
You need a job to gain experience, but you can’t get a job without experience.
It is a classic catch-22, and the cause of anxiety and frustration for many newly-credentialed coders who are anxious and excited to get their foot in the door of the coding field. However, the changing landscape of healthcare, and changes within the coding field, command the question: Is coding experience truly necessary for success within every coding position?
From a manager’s point of view, the inclination may be to hire a coder who boasts experience within medical coding. However, the addition of new coders has many advantages as well.
Coders who are new to the workforce are eager to learn, and can easily adjust to the processes of a coding department. Coders who are just starting out in the medical coding field are an invaluable resource to a code team, and can bring a passion for coding, and a fresh outlook that can breathe new energy into a coding department. Newly-credentialed coders support the growth of your coding department, welcome education regarding coding and code team dynamics, and arrive eager to apply their knowledge and make a difference.
With those benefits in mind, here are just a few reasons that a manager should consider hiring newly-credentialed coders:
Build Your Team, Your Way
Code team managers know best the needs for their code team, and the resources needed to produce optimal results. Many factors go into selecting employees that will support team and department quality and production, from setting the tone of the team dynamic, to fostering an environment of teamwork and learning, to creating processes that support the team as a whole.
Coders who are entering the field for the first time are eager to learn, and that enthusiasm supports a passionate tone within the code team dynamic. Coders who have years of experience observe the excitement of new coders, and can find within themselves a newly-ignited passion for their work.
Managers face a constant struggle to create a workflow and team dynamic that will encourage maximum production and quality. Employees who are entering the workforce for the first time are open to learning the execution of specific processes within a code team. These coders do not bring any bad habits, and they have a desire to help foster teamwork and processes that support the group as a whole. The enthusiasm that new coders possess can help code teams to evaluate procedures, and incorporate new knowledge, new interests, and a new outlook on the code team operations.
New Credentials Bring Fresh Knowledge
Every new coding certification represents recent training, education, and preparation. Medical coders with recently-earned certifications are extremely knowledgeable about every clinical specialty and every coding guideline; they have to be in order to pass their credentialing exam! This fresh knowledge of coding specialties, and the mindset of learning and retaining knowledge spreads within a code team. A seasoned coder may possess years of experience in their chosen coding specialty, but a new coder has recent, clean knowledge of every code set, and the sharing of that knowledge in a respectful, supportive environment can elevate a code team to new quality heights. Pairing a new coder’s knowledge with that of a veteran employee, who can offer extra guidance and real-life application tools, will result in improved coding comprehension for every member of the team. As they say: Teamwork makes the Dream Work!
Make a Difference in the Life of a Coder
We all have the memory of starting out in the coding field, looking for direction, and hoping that someone would take a chance on a rising coding talent. The first time that a coder is introduced to the field, or encouraged to pursue a coding certification is an event that remains fresh within their mind as they overcome the education and struggles that accompany the certification process. Support and guidance within the first months following a certification is integral to coding success, and supporting new coders throughout their coding career encourages the success of the entire coding field. Reaching out to help someone in their journey to success opens up endless possibilities for you, and for the new coder. When you show a new coder that you have faith in them, that vote of confidence will take them places they never could achieve on their own.
Newly-credentialed coders offer so many skills, talents, and attributes that it would be impossible to list them all in one article. Enthusiasm, education, and an eagerness to contribute are just the beginning. Open up to the possibilities of hiring newly-credentialed coders-you won’t be disappointed!
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I love your enthusiasm toward coding and earning credentials. Not all managers are willing to support and nurture a newly credentialed employee. My journey was rough, going through several positions, bad managers, and almost giving up on the profession as a whole. I did overcome the adversity and found a rewarding position and a great manager.
The reality is that it may take a while to train new graduates. So is an experienced coder who is only trained on a specific coding area. Also, it depends on the needs of the team at the moment and availability of qualified candidates. My advice is not to give up. The path to a coding career may not be straight and certain but never lose sight on the goal.
Love this! I am so grateful that my current employer took a chance on me a couple years ago as a new coder!
Well said Ann! I used to hire newly credentialed coders when I was a manager. They are easily trained and eager to code!
This gives me hope
Story of my entire life. Have an associate degree in HIM dating back to 2009…and a Medical transcription training since 1998. But was never hired in (have never set for a coding credential) due to lack of experience, especially with medical transcription, even after many medical transcription companies were hiring and allowing the work to be done in India.
Lyndia — thanks for your feedback. The HIM journey can sometimes be difficult. As you said, you have medical transcription skills, and yet haven’t gotten your break. You also mentioned never having a coding credential — is this something you might want to pursue, to increase your career potential in the HIM arena? Maybe earning an extra notch under your belt during a dry season is the needed catalyst to attaining your future career goals.
Bravo! Well said, and valuable points to consider.
We all started at the bottom as coders. Had it not been for an HIM Director who offered me the opportunity to learn and grow in this field 42 years ago, I would not have had the success in my career that I’ve been given. It is hard work? Yes, it is for both the manager and the new hire, but in the long run it will pay off. Even if you’re a seasoned coder there is still a learning curve known as “that’s how we do it here” that has to be learned by ALL new coding staff.
Excellent article. I am always advocating for our chapter’s new coders. I have spoken openly about providing opportunities to my manager. There should be a way for hiring agencies, such as temporary services, to get them into the job field by offering incentives for hiring. Thank you for addressing this.
I have been a supporter of hiring new coders, however the arena has changed tremendously, the days are gone when we were in the office and trained face to face new employees, training remotely presents challenges that we didn’t have decades ago. We have in our facility an apprenticeship program, and each time we open a couple of positions we have dozens of applicants (I am being conservative). My recommendation to any newly grad is to get a job in the setting that you would want to be in, if you are going for physician coding then get a job in a physician’s office, and not necessarily as a coder), if your goal is to work for a hospital then get a job in a hospital, it’s much easier to be someone that is already in then hiring someone from the outside. We have many coders who are excellent at what they do, and they started this way, they worked in other departments and when we had openings they transferred into our department. Hope that this is helpful, and best wishes to those out there that are looking for a job.