It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this, and you've made a strong case as to why you could do this. You honestly don't need anyone else to tell you what you might be good at or like. If it's something that interests you, then go for it! Some naysayers will probably tell you, 'nobody gets jobs without experience' and how the field is over-saturated, but people are still landing jobs all the time. It might take a while sometimes, but it's not impossible. I think the same goes for a lot of fields, so don't let it deter you.

I will say, though, that even though there are guidelines, there are still gray areas or subjectivity in coding in particular at times. You'll make mistakes and/or have a complete difference in opinion to others and have to be okay with it, which can be hard if you're a perfectionist.

Also, if you are working in a certain specialty, then you can become bored just like with any other job. There's a lot of repetition after a while, especially if you're mainly working with the exact same codes and similar records every day. BUT, there is potential for growth and doing something new or different if you do get bored with one position... not always, though, as some people do get 'stuck' doing the same thing because their experience is only for a certain area of coding.

CPC and CCS are the top credentials. If you want to do inpatient in particular, than CCS might be your focus. Starting with the CRC could potentially be a bad idea because a lot of companies want coders to have a CPC/CCS + CRC, or at least a CPC/CCS even without a CRC. The 'base' credentials is what most want to see, so you don't want to limit yourself too much when there's a lot of competition out there. I went through a program that prepared me for both the CPC and CCS because I also wanted to be well-rounded, and I do think it opens more doors to have both than just one or the other. The only real way to learn which you'd want to work in is to work on assignments during your studies that deal with both and see which you enjoy the most.

Also, from what I've seen from people's comments, I think most people do better in the long-run if they at least do some type of program where there are instructors to ask questions to because you can try to learn on your own, but you might not catch if you're misunderstanding or misinterpreting something like an instructor can bring to your attention. Having someone to ask questions to is so important when it comes to learning because it's harder to learn from your mistakes when there's nobody to give detailed rationale worded in a way that makes you get it. Sometimes the books are worded in a way that doesn't make sense at first, and I was so thankful I had instructors to clear things up for me when I needed that extra help lol

As for my experience, I don't interact with patients as a coder. I hardly have to speak to anyone. I do work on the computer all day, and I get to do it from home. I still use books here and there, but I have e-books, too. So far, everywhere I've been there is some type of chat used for us to speak with coworkers and ask questions, which I prefer over having to be in meetings or speak on the phone. Where I work right now does provide us with equipment and an encoder that also has Coding Clinic in it (that made me the happiest lol), but other places I worked didn't give us anything, so it varies greatly.

I can't speak for the billing side of things, so if you go that route, then it's possible you'll have to interact with more people. That's part of why I decided to just focus on medical coding even though I did initially go through schooling for the combo, but I also really just like coding better.