A Medical Coding Update in My Life

B'SD

23/24 Adar II, 5774


I update you from time to time about my ICD10CM/PCS medical coding studies. I'm learning HCPCS/CPT coding, too. My coursework began in July and I've had lots of studying to do after long schooldays.

Classmates and I are learning to translate medical records from hospitals, private medical offices, rehab centers, nursing homes, just name the medical facility, into alpha-numeric codes that provide At-a-Glance information to insurers and medical researchers about why someone needed specific medical care.

We've studied anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, mental health issues, medical terminology, US insurance laws and other related topics. 

We take tests daily. Cumulative tests that keep us focused on remembering past lessons quite well.

The pressure-cooker classroom is populated with diverse types of women. At first blush, you could wonder if we'd get along with each other in what could easily become a highly competitive atmosphere. 

Time for a reality check, class! Read on for an excerpt from The Daily Dose of Kindness, a newsletter serving worldwide subscribers.

A Daily Dose of Kindness Tuesday, March 18, 2014 Today's Story A classroom of women from various parts of Israel, who had never met before, met for the first time this past July.  We are gathered in Jerusalem to pursue complex studies about medical coding. We are in class from8:30AM to 2:30PM Sundays-Thursdays, under lots of academic pressure.  We're learning to translate medical records into alpha-numeric codes that inform medical researchers and insurance people about exactly why a person needed specific medical services, which services were provided to the patient(s), and the results of the medical interventions. Despite the Israeli snowstorm of the decade, traffic-clogging funerals and protest rallies, we greet each other daily with mutual respect and helpfulness. We overcome obstacles and forge ahead. We tutor each other in highly detailed subjects we've mastered as we earn our medical coding credentials. One student excels in preparing highly informative and very helpful spreadsheets of information about our studies. Some of us share humor, informative videos and other supplemental information to augment our studies. We joke that we are a private support group. We keep each other going. All of us share delicious home-cooked foods and nobody doubts that one women's kitchen is less kosher than her own. We dine on friendship and flavor. We've collected money to buy gifts as each student celebrates a simcha (happy occasion) of some sort. We presented our proctor with presents on holidays. Through it all, we've gotten along well day after day. Imagine: people from various walks of life, with different approaches to religious observance, simply getting along day in and day out! We accept each other as we are, no demands are made to change the way we are. With G-d's help, we will graduate this spring, and launch our medical coding careers. We've bonded as a team that can do necessary work no matter the obstacles in our way. Instructors, and the whole student body, are delighted at how well we get along.

Graduation day is rapidly approaching (summertime). I'm excited to be completing a two-year certification course in less than one.




Want to learn tips for treating the medical people (and family or friends) in your life that well?

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

Feel free to treat your colleagues as friends, not competitors, too!