Career Step, LLC. June 2009

Career Step Quality Medical Coding Training • 4692 N. 300 W. Suite 150 • Provo, UT 84604 • www.careerstep.com • Ph: 800-246-STEP

Military Spouses . . . . . . . . . 2

Graduates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Ergonomic Topic . . . . . . . . . 3

Graduate Spotlight . . . . . . . 4

Dorland Daze Puzzle . . . . . 4

Student Spotlight . . . . . . . . 5

Dorland Daze Results . . . . 5

Employer Spotlight . . . . . . 5

Notable Notes . . . . . . . . . . . 6

MedicalCODING

Bulletin

Applying for a Coding JobA Few Simple Secrets

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There’s a wide world of jobs out there for medical coders. Of course, the flipside is that there’s a wide world of medical coders applying for the same jobs! So how do you make sure your resume is at least considered and not immediately tossed in the trash in favor of someone else?

Having a good resume and cover letter is a good start. However, take it from someone who’s viewed hundreds of resumes: there are certain ones I barely glance at before they’re dismissed. And lucky you, I’m going to spill my secrets!

Don’t have a weird email address.Your email address is the first thing I see—the first impression I get of you. If it reads “OneHotMama” or “IheartZac,” that’s how I immediately think of you. And trust me, that’s not how you want me thinking! You need a professional email address, preferably a simple professional email address. Your name, maybe coupled with a few numbers if it’s a common one, is a great start. Just don’t give me jkl59384.

Don’t mass mail your cover letter or resume.This is one of the cardinal sins of applying for a job. Nothing says, “I really don’t care if I get this position” like a cover letter addressed to another company. Or a resume objective that has nothing to do with the position being offered. Or a resume that is obviously generic, with no position-specific skills or qualifications highlighted. Or . . . you get the picture. Make me think that mine is the only company you’re applying with, because you want this position.

Don’t have typos or spelling errors.Nothing’s more embarrassing than having a potential employer point out a mistake on your resume. (Believe me, it’s happened to me.) Of course, most employers won’t care enough to do that. Still, nothing turns me off to a resume faster than a few typos. Especially since you are applying to be a coder, you want to show employers that you are accurate and consistent! An error in your resume could be a reflection of a lack of care in your general work. You don’t want to leave that impression! Remember,

it’s sometimes hard to catch your own mistakes. Have somebody else look over a copy before you send it out.

Don’t list your mother as a reference.You want to have solid, credible people listed as your references. Just because your mother loves you doesn’t mean you’ll get an interview. You want references from people in the medical industry, or people who are well aware of your coding capabilities. Don’t have a good list of references yet? Get on it! Join groups like the AAPC or AHIMA and you’ll find a wealth of friends and references. Volunteer at a hospital so you can have supervisors who are willing to vouch for you. If you don’t have relevant references, you need them—because an employer needs them too.

June 2009 MEDICAL CODING BULLETIN2

Career Step and Military SpousesCareer Step Approved to Train Military Spouses through DOD Program

GRADUATESCareer Step congratulates the following

Christy - Mountain Home, AKFirst of all, thank you, Career Step! After applying for only 2 jobs I was offered one. I took a coding exam for the company, and was commended on how I got one of the questions right that most applicants miss. I am currently enrolling to take my certification test. I have worked in the medical field as an office manager for a few years, but enjoyed the medical coding. Career Step gave me the opportunity to further my education and skills in this field. I would highly recommend this course to anyone that is pursuing a career in medical coding. The course is in depth, but gives you the skills you need to become certified.

Louella - Denver, COCareer Step’s student support is a great resource for all students, especially those taking the online coding course through a source like Emily Griffith Opportunity School. Your questions get answered quickly. I just wish I had used them earlier on in the course. Students should really take advantage of this free resource! I’m preparing for CPC exam in September and networking with AAPC local chapter.

Michelle - Carmichael, CA I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to Career Step for this training opportunity! Also, I would like to thank all of the Career Step team for being so courteous, helpful, and dedicated in helping me to pursue my goals in this exciting new step in my life. Randy Johnson in particular has gone above and beyond in answering all my questions and helping me throughout the course. Thank you for everything, Randy! As for my current situation, I am preparing to take the certification exam. I am also looking forward to sending in my resume and finding the place where I can grow and thrive in the medical coding field! Thank you again!

Amanda – Denver, Colorado Amanda – Trenton, Missouri Betty – Austin, Texas Cameron – Indian Trail, North Carolina David – Twin Falls, Idaho Debi – Tucson, Arizona Emily – St. Charles, Missouri Heidi – Rigby, Idaho Jessica – Fort Walton Beach, FloridaKaren – Broomfield, Colorado Karin – Rembert, South Carolina

Kathy – Pearland, Texas Kim – Harlan, Iowa Lance – Fishers, Indiana Linda – Castle Rock, Colorado Lisa – Nettie, West Virginia Love – Rock Hill, South Carolina Mammie – Lancaster, South Carolina Megan – Portland, Tennessee Pamala – Plattsburgh, New York Peggy – Rock Hill, South CarolinaRalph – Southaven, Mississippi Sherrie – Hope Mills, North Carolina Yvette – Fayetteville, North Carolina

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Growing up in an active duty Coast Guard family, I didn’t spend summers on vacation like most other kids. My family spent summers moving. By the time I was 13, I had moved nine times (five of which were cross-country).

Looking back, I’m a better person for the experience, not to mention I lived in some pretty cool places, but it certainly wasn’t easy adjusting to a new town, new home, new friends, and new everything else every few years. And yet, thousands of military families all over the world

make a similar sacrifice to support their loved one’s decision to serve in our country’s military.

For many military spouses, moving is more than just packing an entire household and adjusting to a new community; it means looking for a new job and starting over every time they relocate. Career Step has been approved by the Department of Defense to help military spouses in this dilemma. The Department of Defense has expanded its Military Spouse Career Advancement

Account (MyCAA) program to provide military spouses the career training they need to gain careers in high-growth, high-demand, portable career fields. Spouses of active duty members and activated National Guard and Military Reserve members can receive up to $6,000 through the MyCAA program to pay for training.

“The MyCAA funds serve as an excellent opportunity for military spouses to pursue rewarding new careers,” said

MEDICAL CODING BULLETIN June 2009 3

The Ergonomic TopicErgonomics 101

If you don’t know anything about ergo-nomics, consider this a brief (very brief ) tutorial. Ergonomics is the science of de-signing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. There are five aspects of ergonomics: safety, comfort, ease of use, productivity/performance, and aesthetics.

Since you don’t necessarily have an em-ployer trying to design an ergonomically friendly workplace for you, this is some-thing you need to do for yourself. You will spend hours upon hours every week sitting in a chair, at a desk, typing away on your keyboard, staring at a computer screen. This can be wearisome on any number of body parts: your eyes, neck, wrists, and, dare I say, your bum! It’s important to tailor your workplace to fit, well, you. Over the next several issues we will focus on differ-ent ergonomic items that can potentially improve your working environment.

- Chelsea PyleCS Student Support Team

Do have a well-organized, easy-to-read resume.This is my pet peeve in a resume: a flowery font obscures the name, the resume is three pages long, and it’s in paragraph format. Hello, trashcan. I wasn’t planning on reading a novel today. You know what I do love though? Sections on experience, education, skills, etc. specifically outlined, with job-relevant skills highlighted at the top of the list. Did you catch the last word of that sentence? List. Please, don’t force me to read paragraphs of information. Give me a bulleted list, and I will give you points. Your resume automatically jumps to the top of my list if it’s well organized and I can give it a 30-second glance to get all the information I need. Thirty seconds, people. That means try to keep it to a page.

Do explain any under or over qualifications. Cover letters exist for a reason. If I get a resume and see you obviously don’t have the skills we requested, I will trash

Continued from pg 1 it—unless you’ve made a good case for yourself in your cover letter. The same goes if you’re overqualified. If your skills are less, or significantly more, than what we request for this position, I need to know why I’m going to look at it anyway.

Do Google yourself.Because I will too. A lot of employers are now using Google as an informal character—and even reference—check. If you make it to my top five, but I find a MySpace page that has a picture of your drunken self vandalizing road signs, you just got blacklisted. Added to which, if you say you spent last summer volunteering in Africa, and then I find a blog post where you detail that summer’s boring fast food job, you might just have to go back to that fast food job. Now, I’m not saying everybody lies and has embarrassing (and potentially illegal) drunken pictures on the internet. I’m just saying, check to see what the ‘Net does say about you, and make sure it’s what you want me to see.

Do keep your coding skills top notch.Remember how I said good resumes are a good start? If they’re good enough, and you get an interview, keep the following in mind. Many employers give pre-employment exams these days, so you would do well to be prepared! If you walk in without having brushed up a bit on your skills—especially if you haven’t used them in a little while—you may find yourself at the bottom of the list. Employers are hiring you for your coding skills, after all, so show them what you can do! Set yourself a review session every day prior to the pre-employment exam and interview, even if it’s just for 30 minutes, and you’ll be sure to impress.

See? Nothing tricky, nothing painful. Just take a few basic steps, and I promise, you will be miles ahead of hunky_john@coolmail.com, “expet in all things coding,” whose novel-length resume is now in my trashcan.

- Shallee McArthurCS Program Development Team

Mike Wilstead, Career Step’s CEO. “In this economic environment, many individuals are interested in retraining and education to expand their skill sets. Now, military spouses can prepare for careers in the growing medical transcription, coding, and billing fields through Career Step programs funded entirely by the Department of Defense.”

As a MyCAA approved school, Career Step is working hard to make the MyCAA application process as easy as possible for military spouses.

“We want to help military spouses advance their careers by taking advantage of this funding opportunity, and we’ve created an easy-to-use website that walks them, step by step, through the entire MyCAA application process,” said Jerolyn Carter, Career Step’s Director of Enrollments.

Interested military spouses can visit www.careerstep.com/mycaastep

for more information. MyCAA also recommends that applicants work closely with school advisors as they move through the application process; Career Step counselors are available during extended business hours (7 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Mountain, Mon. – Fri.) at 1-800-7837 to guide military spouses through the entire process.

Career Step recognizes the profound sacrifices the military families of our nation make, and the MyCAA program makes it easier for military spouses to gain training for careers that are in demand and portable, so our military families have one less thing to worry about each time they move.

- Amy KendallCS Marketing Team

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June 2009 MEDICAL CODING BULLETIN4

Graduate in the Spotlight - Linda Persson

After about 23 years in the law enforcement field, I had to take a medical retirement. I have always been interested in different aspects of the medical field and decided to get into medical coding and billing and am very excited to start my new career. I was born in Kearney, Nebraska, but at the age of 5, my family moved to Greeley, Colorado. I have lived in Colorado my “whole life” and absolutely love it. I got married almost three years ago and, now, have two stepchildren and a granddaughter. And I love being a mother and grandmother! My husband works for a small company and is the CDL driver and equipment operator.

Right after high school, I started going to college to be a veterinarian assistant, but after my first year I started working at the jail for the summer. That summer seems to have lasted over 23 years and three different agencies.

My husband and I spend a lot of time doing things outside--especially when it’s nice--such as fishing. I also enjoy spending time with friends and family; we go to Wyoming and Nebraska to visit many really good friends, who are a truly important part of our lives. I also recently started scrapbooking, which I really enjoy. And then we have two wonderful family members at home, our pets. We have our 8-year-old wire-haired terrier mix dog and then there is our newest little “baby,” our precious 4-month old Yorkshire terrier, who we just adopted about a week ago. I really enjoy spending time with them—we go

for lots of walks and to the dog park a lot. I have always been a very detail-oriented person, and I thought that medical coding would be something I would really enjoy. The CS medical coding program online gave me the time to continue to watch our granddaughter while getting my degree. I think that if you are a detail-oriented person who enjoys ensuring accuracy, then you should really consider medical coding. I’m really excited to get started in my new profession and can’t wait to find my new “home.”

- Linda Persson

Dorland Daze CrosswordAcross2. A knife or other instrument used for carving or fashioning an object by cutting, such as one used for shaping artificial teeth and dental restorations. 3. Surgical creation of an opening into a joint, as for the purpose of drainage. 8. A type of dystrophy of the fingernails in which they are thin and concave and have raised edges, it is sometimes associated with iron deficiency anemia. 11. The presence of pigmented patches on the oral mucosa. 14. Projecting from the corpus striatum to the substantia niagra.

Down1. A mercurial antiseptic that has been used topically for the disinfection of the skin and wounds. 4. Nuclear proliferation; abnormal increase in the production of nuclei, such as occurs in the subsarcolemmal nuclei of muscle following injury. 5. A modified or inactivated bacterial exotoxin that has lost toxicity but retains the properties of combining with, or stimulating the formation of, antitoxin. 6. A forceps-like instrument for cutting tough tissue, particularly bone. 7. A natural calcium carbonate; the amorphous remains of minute marine organisms deposited on the sea bottom and decomposed by the action of acids and heat. 9. The bone-like rigid connective tissue covering the root of a tooth from the centoenamel junction to the apex and lining the apex of the root canal. 10. The accumulated record of a patient’s case history. 12. Having two hydrogen atoms in each molecule 13. The act of pressing together; an action exerted upon a body by an eternal force which tends to diminish its volume and augment its density.

Dorland's Daze 

 

       

MEDICAL CODING BULLETIN June 2009

Student Spotlight -Debbi Roach

My name is Debbi Roach. I met my husband of 24 years in Bend, Oregon, where we lived until two years ago when we moved to New Meadows, Idaho. We first became interested in New Meadows through friends who had moved there and had invited us to see the wonderful winter carnival that McCall, Idaho puts on each year. While in McCall for the winter carnival, we looked at property and ended up buying in New Meadows, just a mere 13 miles from McCall. My husband, son-in-law, and our friend built our lovely home where we now live with our two

cats, Cuddles and Snuggles, and our new baby, Phoebe the pug.

I have three grown children: two boys and one girl, and two lovely granddaughters, Aliviah (3) and Abbygale (1) with whom I spend most of my off time. They keep me on my toes.

I love the outdoors—hunting, fishing, hiking, ATV riding, as well as sewing, and crafting. I have recently taken up the art of quilting and am almost done with my first queen-size quilt. I have many projects planned that keep me very busy, in addition to working part time.

My daughter and closest friend are both medical transcriptionists

Employer Spotlight

University Physicians, Inc., located in Aurora, Colorado, was established in 1982 by the Colorado Board of Regents. To date, UPI boasts a workforce of 1200 physicians, including 275 pediatric physicians. They are affiliated with some of the leading medical institutions in the West. Its medical coding staff consists of 80-85 coders who specialize primarily in outpatient coding and billing. They currently service, with distinction, the medical coding needs of the University of Colorado Hospital and the University of Colorado Children’s Hospital, along with various other healthcare organizations located on the Anschutz Medical Campus at the University of Colorado Denver.

Career Step is happy to share that University Physicians, Inc. has been impressed with the quality of our Medical Coding and Billing program graduates. There are currently four graduates working on the UPI coding staff. We are proud to be able to provide such quality employees to UPI and to many other medical coding employers across the country.

To learn more, please visit http://www.upicolo.org.

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successfully working from home. With their encouragement, I looked into the different schools and chose Career Step’s medical coding program. I really enjoy the challenge and the people. I love Darcey Pett, Placement Coordinator, who encourages me and is always willing to help and answer questions and makes me feel as though she is a longtime friend. Also Randy Johnson, Student Support Counselor, who is always there even for the smallest question.

Career Step is a wonderful program, which I recommend to everyone. I am looking forward to working in the medical coding field.

- Debbi Roach

Dorland Daze Crossword Solutions for March 2009 Issue

Across3. Exudation/the escape of fluid, cells, and cellular debris from blood vessels and their deposition in or on the tissues, usually as the result of inflamma-tion. 7. Metergasis/change of function.9. Dyslexia/inability to read, spell, and write words, despite the ability to see and recognize letters. 11. Glairy/resembling the white of an egg. 12. Emphraxis/a stoppage or obstruction.

Down1. Palmar/ flexion of the fingers in response to scratching of the palm. 2. Roller/a small cylinder of rolled cotton, linen, or flannel for surgical use.3. Euphoria/an exaggerated feeling of physical and mental well-being, espe-cially when not justified by external reality. 4. Quale/the quality of a thing; especially the quality of a sensation or other conscious process. 5. Dermatotropic/preferentially infecting, infesting, or affecting the skin; said of certain microorganisms. 6. Quadrate/square or squared; four sided.8. Ick/white spot disease.

4692 N. 300 W. Suite 150 Provo, UT 84604

MEDICAL CODING BULLETIN June 2009 6

Hello! My name is Cari Greenwood and I am the new Student Support Counselor for the Career Step Medical Coding and Billing program.

I have been working as a medical coder for five years. The bulk of my experience has been working for acute care hospitals doing many types of coding. I have experience with both inpatient and outpatient records, including outpatient surgeries, emergency rooms reports, and ancillary reports. I have worked as an on-site, traveling, and remote coder. I have additional experience in radiology and interventional radiology coding as I worked as a coder for a radiology group’s billing company.

Before I began working as a medical coder I completed a certification course offered by a school in my local area. Some of my training was done in the classroom and some was done online, in a format similar to the Career Step program. After graduation, I took some of the national certification exams. I earned my CPC and CCS certifications from the AAPC and AHIMA.

I will have been married for 20 years next month to my husband Mark. He is currently attending nursing school. We have two wonderful children, a daughter, Ali (19) and a son, Tanner (16). We live in Utah, and we love the outdoor recreation opportunities that this provides. I enjoy photography, quilting, reading, and spending time with my family.

I am very excited to join the Career Step team. My new responsibilities have offered me the opportunity to use my coding skills in new and challenging ways. I am also glad to have the opportunity to work with the other Student Support counselor, Randy Johnson. We have worked together in the past, and I am looking forward to working together again to support the needs of the Career Step coding students in the future.

- Cari GreenwoodCS Student Support Team

Notable Notes - Meet Cari Greenwood

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