Non-Competes

 

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Check with an attorney before you sign an employment or independent contractor agreement that includes a non-compete clause.

I am not an attorney, and I am not providing legal advice.  I’m sharing my experience and the experiences of others who worked with coding companies or contractors that include non-compete clauses in employment and independent contractor agreements.

I was offered a job with a company, and they included a non-compete clause in the paperwork.  The non-compete meant that I would not work for another company as an employee or independent contractor within a 50-mile radius for two years after my employment ended.  Additionally, I would not accept a position, or perform contract work for two years, with any facility that contracted with the company, even if I did not work on those contracts for the company.

Human Resources told me that I would not be hired if I did not sign the agreement.  This would mean that I would have to travel beyond a comfortable commute for two years in order to make a living.  Even if the company’s contract ended with the facility, I could not accept an employment offer so that I could continue to make a living.

How can a company restrict a coder’s ability to make a living?  Would the company sue a coder?  Well this particular company, yes.

This company had a reputation of suing coders who left either voluntarily or involuntarily and accepted employment with other companies.  The company always lost in court, but it placed financial burdens on the coders who had to hire attorneys to defend them in court.

A coder was terminated from the company when the contract ended.  When she applied for a job with another company, the recruiter told her that because she had a non-compete agreement with the first company, they could not hire her.

Another coder worked on a contract for the same company.  When the contract ended, the company did not have additional work for her.  She signed on with the company that took over the contract, but she was threatened with a lawsuit by the first company if she did not resign.  She resigned the same day because she could not afford an attorney to fight for her.

Seek advice from an attorney before you sign a non-compete clause.  Utilize your network.  Have discussions with people who have had experiences with the company you’re considering.  Then you can make an informed decision that is best for you and your medical coding career.

Networking and Referring

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Why is there so much competition in the medical coding industry?  What happened to networking and referring?

I’ve been in the medical coding industry for over 30 years.  I have referred opportunities to colleagues who were better suited or could provide more bandwidth to meet deadlines.  I’ve been presented with contracts to work in areas that were not my specialty and I’ve always recommended colleagues who were expert in the particular area.  When I take on large projects, I always hire independent contractors to meet deadlines.

I’m a cheerleader for friends who want to become consultants in the industry.  I always offer advice on writing proposals and I always provide references for them.

There seems to be a shift in attitude, and it’s not good.

A colleague and I both submitted our resumes for the same consulting opportunity.  We both had telephone interviews and the company sent work to me.  My colleague did not receive any work.  The following day, I received a call from the client.  My colleague contacted my client and questioned why I was awarded the work order and she was not.  She actually told the client that she was more qualified.  This person is still in the industry trying to pull others down, but she’s not working to elevate herself.

Another colleague actually turns down opportunities when he doesn’t have time to work on them, but he does not refer the clients to others who do have the bandwidth.

And then there’s the colleague who takes on every opportunity even when she’s not an expert in the specialty.  She does not refer the clients to others who are subject matter experts, and the clients terminate her contracts due to poor work quality.

There are so many opportunities in this industry.  There’s no need to compete against each other.  We all have areas of expertise that we can use to elevate ourselves and each other.

So, You Want To Be a Coder?

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I’ve audited a lot of new coders.  In addition, I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media from new coders.  Based on some of the discussions, I’m not sure that some of the newbies in the industry are aware of what’s involved in medical coding.

Let’s go back to the basics.  Medical coders translate the providers’ written words into codes that are universally understood by payers and other reporting agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

A medical coder is not a data entry clerk, so it doesn’t matter that you’re a fast typist.  There are some practices where the providers code their own services and assign the task of entering the codes into the billing system to someone else.  We call them charge entry clerks, not coders.

A medical coder does not strive to memorize codes.  You learn the guidelines, you learn how to correctly interpret the guidelines, and you learn how to apply the guidelines to the documentation that you’re coding.

Medical coders do not have three answers to choose from when coding a procedure or encounter note.  The odds of selecting the correct answer on the certification exam are good because you have three options and clues within each answer that help you select the correct answer.

Medical coders do not always have clean notes to code.  Everything is not always formatted in a particular order, and sometimes the documentation is not complete for coding.  It’s the coder’s responsibility to mentally organize the documentation in order to abstract the codes and to identify documentation deficiencies and query the providers.

So, you want to code.  Do you have analytical skills?  Are you willing to take the time to learn coding guidelines?  Are you prepared to research?  Are you comfortable working independently and being subjected to frequent interruptions that require immediate responses?  Do you have advanced knowledge of medical terminology, abbreviations, techniques and surgical procedures, anatomy and physiology, major disease processes, pharmacology, and the metric system?

These are just the basic skills of a medical coder.