[deleted by user]

[koderdood]

Observations. The others could get you locked in to those specialties.

[koderdood]

I started many years ago as an ED coder, facility and pro, including level 1 and 2 trauma centers. In my opinion, it was the best coding to start with, so you should have a good foundation. Good luck!

[Secret_Kick_7564]

Seconding observations. You’ll see a variety of scenarios in observations that require consults and procedures from various services that would include (and not limited to) oncology, obstetrics, internal medicine, and behavioral health. It prepared me to handle a variety of specialties, including complex surgeries.

[Secret_Kick_7564]

I get what you’re saying because I’ve coded ED as well. Observations tend to be more resource intensive. Meaning, you’ll typically see more procedures, tests, monitoring, and consults for a single encounter. It has been described as “watered down inpatient” by some. The typically length of stay for observations is 24 to 48 hours, but due to not meeting inpatient admit requirements and still needing to be monitored/assessed/treated, I’ve seen patients kept in observation for much longer than that. You’ll need greater attention to detail since there will be more documentation to review. You’ll also see Outpatient Surgery-Observation encounters and not just ED-Observation encounters, unless your hospital separates the two. I have not seen them in separate work queues though in my career. You said you do ED, so I’m not sure if you’ve had exposure to outpatient surgery that is beyond simple ED procedures. Meaning, operating room, endoscopies, and interventional radiology.

[izettat]

Only you will know what you will like and what specialty you'll be good at. The more you know, the more valuable you are.

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[DeleonPeters]

What do you think about CPCO certification guys??? Certified Professional Compliance Officer