Angela,
Coding and billing are an on-going learning experience and the intangible knowledge you gain from working in the field is what makes a physician or hospital administrator trust you enough to hire you. There are many practices who are willing to give you a chance but you must be persistent in your search. When you least expect it, you will be blessed with an opportunity.
On a practical note...(and this goes with any job) get your foot in the door of a place you would like to work. You may start out as someone who just registers patients or answers telephone calls, but if the provider sees your professionalism and you ask a lot of questions and offer to help out in the billing and coding department, AND you get along with your fellow employees, good things will happen. Positive actions equal positive results.
In a GPO (Group Practice Organization), you can work at any job and learn from the bottom up. These organizations have Human Resource Departments that typically list jobs on a bulletin board with different levels of pay. They usually hire from within before they look outside the organization so do not give up.
I started out as an accountant for a child psychiatrist, who lost her medical biller/coder and asked me if I would like to try and take over her billing. I knew nothing! No training! I self taught. (Of course that was many years ago). She allowed me flexibility because I was a new Mom and with my new knowledge I sent out 300 letters asking other psychiatrists if they needed a biller/coder and I got one response: a 6 doctor practice who KNEW I was new in the industry but they took a chance on me. I ended up working for many doctors as an independent contractor. My small business grew faster than my children, and I have evolved to biller, coding instructor, consultant, auditor, public speaker, etc.
There was no business plan.
I just took the plunge and did not look back. So do not give up. Okay?
It WILL happen!!!! Stay motivated. I wish you the best.
