School/Career Advice

jleigh1902

Want to make more money? Sure, we all do...

Haha sorry...just remembering the old Everest commercials, before it was Everest. Anyway, I'm looking into attending a trade school...either Everest or Ross...for medical billing/coding. Has anyone attended these schools? Any thoughts/advice? Do any of you do billing/coding?

I do have a 4 year degree, and while it may have landed me the job I have, I'm not going anywhere with it (the degree or the job). And with the purchase of the house and wedding planning and the lovely debt I already have, the idea of going back to a university for a higher degree is just not feasible. Thanks ladies!

aprillm730

I haven't attended either of those but I have a friend who went to school and got a bach degree for teaching, she couldn't get a job and so she went back to school at Ross and got that medical assistant certificate? degree? I'm not sure what it is exactly but she is currently working as a MA now and likes it.

I also know someone who did medical billing but is not crazy about it, but thats because she says its the same thing every day, she's not challenged in anyway, etc.

I think anything in the medical field would be a good choice, thats what "they" say anyways!

good luck!

FutureMrsJeffords

i went to everest!! i needed to get a job quick and the nice thing is that its over in 8 months! i went for MA and i loved it.... ive been workin at my office for over a year now... now some people will say bad things about the school but honesetly its what you make of it... im using it as a stepping stone to get me experince as im going for nursing!!

mink492

Schoolcraft & OCC have Medical Billing programs. Schoolcraft also has a Health Information Technology program. I've been looking into a few things too.

Megan2oo2

Both of those schools are wildly overpriced!  Most of their programs are $15000 and you can find other programs that are just as good, actually most of the time better, for $5000.  Do your research before selecting a school!  There is a ton of school information on www.mycareereducation.org it is run by DLEG and is a great place to start.  Remember that these schools are for profit so they do a great job of selling you on their school.  Do not let a school sell you on their loans, they are riduculously high interest rates.  This is a great article on trade schools: http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/109081/in-hard-times-lured-into-trade-school-and-debt

Also, Medical billing and coding is a dying industry.  There are programs out there for Medical Front Office which have much better long term potential.  

One of the best things you can do is to call hospitals in the area and talk to their Human Resource Department and ask what schools they hire from.  Several of them will tell you schools that they will not hire graduates from, there are a lot of schools out there that have a bad reputation and employers won't touch their graduates!
 

Melgor78

Stay away from everest.  They tell you small class sizes yeah we were so over packed they had to separate into two different classes.  Every class was over packed, never enough room/supplies.  The career services is for the birds.  They didn't send the paper-work need to take my CMA so I had to take care of it and no one returned my calls.  They hurd you like cattle.  I have yet to find a job and I wonder if the degree is worth the paper it's written on to employers.

As for medical billing it is a repetitive job and if you don't mind something like that.  It all depends weather you work at a dr office or a bill company.  I know a lot of offices muti-task so they want someone with ma, front office and billing experince.

zemiller

Vocational schools are great for getting trained in specific careers. You mentioned a couple of schools in your post that you are considering. Have you heard about Career Step? It’s one of the better known schools to offer vocational training programs in healthcare fields. I would suggest you go through the details of their medical billing training and see how it compares to others.