My name is Kimberly Mansingh. When it comes to the medical field, I have done just about every job in healthcare administration that exists. I have been a receptionist, a file clerk, a biller, a referral/authorization specialist, an office manager, a coder, a coding team lead, an educator, a regulatory compliance auditor, and a surgical education manager in the span of 16 years. The last 11 years have been dedicated solely to coding and auditing for physicians. I can honestly say these past 11 years have been some of the most challenging yet rewarding years of my life.
I still remember vividly my first job as a coder. I was the office receptionist at the time and the current coder was retiring so the job fell to me as a “temporary solution until we could figure something out.” I was too naive to know what I was getting myself into so naturally I accepted the job without question. After signing up for a job I knew virtually nothing about, I received a two-week, on the job crash course in coding general surgery, and then, I was on my own. For the next several months, I would code surgeries by picking the CPT code that made the most sense to me and then frantically dig through an accordion file of cases our former coder had finished before she left. I would use these old cases to try to match up my report and my coding to something she did in the past to make sure I was even in the ballpark.
Knowing what I do now, I can look back at that time and realize that I undoubtedly made mistakes along the way. If I had realized then how little I really knew compared to what I needed to know to be a successful coder, I probably would have panicked and quit shortly into this journey. Fortunately for me, my ignorance protected me, and I continued on. It was many years later when I realized that something else was happening in that trial by fire — I was learning the foundations of how to be a good surgery coder without even realizing it. I learned these skills because, quite honestly, I had no other option. I had no one with coding experience in my office to ask questions. I had no network of coders online to tap into (at the time I did not even know that the AAPC and AHIMA existed). I had me, my operative report, and my coding books. Everything I know today is the result of thousands of hours of research to teach myself anatomy, terminology, and endless pages of guidelines I had to apply to be successful. Was it hard? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
As I start this new leg of my journey, I am excited to share the knowledge I have gained along the way with all of you and to empower you to become more confident and successful in your respective fields. If you are just starting out and feeling daunted, trust me when I say, I have been there, and it will get better. If you have been coding for years, I hope this site will inspire you to branch out and seek new challenges and to sharpen the skills you have learned along the way.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work alongside you in this journey!