Topic: Question for people in health-care

[Oniya]

I'm going to be moving in the next couple of months, and one of the 'side benefits' is that I'll be close to my 'EMT-sister' (as opposed to the sister that is currently in charge of giving me work, or my sister who spams me with her photo-jewelry ads).  For the past 7 years, I've been working filing reports that involve things like spelling bacteria properly and interpreting lab reports for people that don't speak 'lab-tech'.  I'm thinking of trying to find a job at the local hospital, but I'd have to find something that involves no med school whatsoever.  (I took a course on Medical Transcription once, but a problem with the templates resulted in me not passing that, and with things like Dragon coming into vogue, I'm not sure such a position even exists any more.)

Anyone know what department I should be looking in?  I type quickly and accurately, and work obscenely well with properly formatted templates (if you want the margins at 1", and the template is set to 1", the output shouldn't be sent back because of incorrect margins.)

[Jeramiahh]

Medical billing and coding.

I got lucky, and started working as a biller at a private doctor's office, with absolutely no medical background whatsoever; it's pretty much nothing but paperwork. I work for Veteran's Affairs, now, doing roughly the same thing, and I certainly enjoy it. Knowing about the medical field is a good way to get your foot in the door, and most doctors and hospitals do their own billing. Not sure how easy it is to get into; I've mostly gotten lucky with my jobs.  Medical coding's a lot trickier; I didn't have any training, when I was 'promoted' to it, myself, but I had a lot of on the job training; it really wasn't that hard. It's mostly a lot of common sense and referring to the books on the codes.

[Oniya]

Well, like I said, my sister's an EMT.  She might 'know a guy who knows a guy,' as far as the foot in the door aspect goes.  I've got a good head for numbers and spreadsheets, which would probably also help.

[DarklingAlice]

Speaking as someone who moonlights as a research hospital admin...there isn't a whole lot of specific training you need to go into and there is a major need for competent folk in the field.

[Oniya]

Excellent.  Turns out that there are two facilities within walking distance of the place I'll be moving to (as well as the option to carpool with my sister if I find something amazing at a third facility.)  Just have to keep my eye on their 'Careers' pages.