I've been getting a ton of questions via text, email, Facebook, etc lately about what I do. I get it: who wouldn't want the ease and flexibility of working from home? Especially moms who want to be home with children! So I thought a blog post might answer questions for any one else who might be curious.
I am a home health medical coder and auditor. I have an HCS-D certification (home health ICD-9 coding) and a COS-C certification (OASIS-C, which is Medicare documentation for home health). I work full time from home, with full benefits, on my own schedule, and I make almost 3x what I made in my office job before. I have a monthly quota I have to meet, and anything over that is paid in a bonus check every 3 months. I have been extremely blessed by this job.
It was a long path to get to this point. In college, I took a part time job as a medical records file clerk at a home health agency (my mom worked for the same company, but in the hospice branch). After college, I continued at the same company but was promoted to CRC: doing data entry and tracking doctor's orders and such. Anytime I was caught up on work, I would help our quality assurance person with chart audits, and so began to learn some of the ins and outs of the home health world. After about a year, the lady who does our coding was planning an extended medical leave, and they decided to train me to take over the coding. I took it on enthusiastically. I learned on the job, studied at home, took an online anatomy and physiology class, and attended a 3 day home health coding seminar. I ended up passing the HCS-D certification exam and became the permanent coder in the office. After another year, I took it on my own initiative to study, attend a seminar, and take and pass the COS-C exam. I did not formally use that certification in my job description, but it helped me with coding and additional responsibilities in the office.
The year before we left California, we needed more income. I took a second job as a remote coder/auditor. With my experience and certifications, they were eager to hire me, and I was able to start immediately. It was a contract position, pay per chart, and I worked either early in the morning or late in the evening. When we moved to Texas, I kept the contract job and started requesting more charts. Last November, I was offered the full time position. Since Omar was still job hunting in Texas, I took the the full time position. Right after, Omar got a job offer, too, but I kept my full time job. I'm glad I did, because we were all miserable with Omar working outside the home again. We are grateful that when his contract ended, he was able to come home to homeschool the kids, and we can live comfortably on my income now.
How do I juggle working from home? I have to be honest and say that when Omar was working outside the home, I could not do it. I tried so many different things, but there was always something falling behind, and I was hugely stressed out. With Omar home shouldering most of the responsibilities with the kids and house, it works out great.
I get up and spend the early morning with the kids, fixing breakfast and such. I try to get a couple of hours of work done in the morning. I break for lunch with my family, and I put Elijah down for his nap (sometimes I sneak in a little nap with him), and I get the bulk of my work done in the afternoon. I break again for dinner and bedtimes. Some days, I get all my work done in the day. Most days, I have just a few charts to finish up after the kids are in bed. Some days we do a big family outing, and then I stay up late to finish my work. I enjoy being able to take frequent breaks in the day to spend with my family and take care of my kids. It is also easy to rearrange my schedule for shopping trips, doctors appointments, or anything else we need or want to do as a family. We don't have much of a schedule or routine right now. Omar is doing a little schoolwork to keep the kids going over the summer, but he is focusing on a few home improvement projects right now, so some days I watch the kids more while he is working on the house, and some days he watches them more while I am working. Once we get school going in the fall, we will have more of a routine I'm sure.
Having two parents at home works so well for our family. We just like to be together. If we need a few things from the grocery store, it is not uncommon for all 5 of us to jump in the car and go together. The kids are thriving in their schoolwork with Omar as their primary teacher; he is just better at that than I am! And I love that I can still be so involved. My desk is set up in the main living area, so I feel like I don't miss a thing! Sometimes Elijah comes and sits in my lap for a little bit while I work. Joy likes to bring the toy laptop over and set up shop next to me so she can do her work. I will take a short maternity leave when Baby Grace arrives, but I am so thrilled that I will never have to put her in daycare, and I won't have to pump 3-4 times a day. I plan to babywear a lot the first few months.
Our current situation seems almost too good to be true, but when people ask me how they can do what I do, I have to say it wasn't easy for me; my certifications are very specialized and best learned on the job in an office. Don't be discouraged, though; I can offer a few suggestions. Medical coding and medical transcription are two great fields for work from home opportunities. The general advice I have seen on forums is that medical coding pays better, but usually requires some office experience before you will be able to get a work from home job (similar to the path I took; you have to work your way into it). Medical transcription doesn't pay as much, but you can usually start working from home right away. Both career paths have tons of online opportunities for classes and certifications.
I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do and be home with my family. I enjoy my work, and I work for a great company. There were times over the past 6 years that I struggled with my office job: I didn't enjoy it, I missed my kids, and we didn't have enough money. Now I can praise God for those years and the way they prepared me for all that I can do now. Blessed, blessed, blessed! I've been using that word so much lately, because every time I pause and think about where we are now compared to where we were a year ago, all I can do is praise God for his abundant blessings!
